Jakartans warned about fire dangers

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Fire Department urged residents, especially those celebrating Idul Fitri outside the city, to safeguard their houses before leaving.

Suharso, head of the department, told The Jakarta Post many houses were left empty over the holiday and he did not want holidaymakers returning to a fire-gutted home.

"I urge all Jakartans to carefully check all electricity goods and equipment to help prevent the possibility of fire-related incidents."

Last year, 1,215 fires were recorded, substantially more than the previous high of 1,082 fires in 1982, he said. Fires killed 38 people last year.

He issued the warning yesterday because many holidaymakers tended to leave their houses in a hurry.

This month there have been 56 fires in the city, he said, adding that many of the incidents were due to people's recklessness.

During the Idul Fitri celebration, the department will have 2,553 personnel stationed at 80 fire posts throughout the city.

"I really hope all residents can stay safe and celebrate Idul Fitri happily.

"Fire is one of the worst things that can happen. It will destroy almost everything."

Suharso said the department has opened a fire hotline: (021) 113 and each mayoralty has a home base: Central Jakarta (021) 3841216, West Jakarta (021) 5682284, South Jakarta (021) 7694519, East Jakarta (021) 8582150 and North Jakarta (021) 493045.

"If people report fires quickly, hopefully we can put it out before it's too late."

When asked whether arsonists were behind the burning of slum areas, as suspected by some locals, Suharso said the accusations were completely wrong and unfair.

"I admit that we have frequently faced such problems.

"People usually get angry, especially when there's a rumor that the fire was an act of sabotage in order to evict residents from their land.

"Many times firemen, who were trying to put out the blaze, were beaten or had their fire engines vandalized because of these misunderstandings. This is outrageous! We've been working like dogs (to extinguish the fire).

He said firefighters had no time to publicly defend themselves as they were already swamped with round-the-clock working hours and limited personnel who were expected to handle all the fires in the city."

On Monday there were three fires in Central Jakarta but no fatalities were reported.

First fire

The first fire gutted three kiosks on Jl. Garuda in Kemayoran.

The blaze, which started at 7 a.m., was extinguished at 7.40 a.m. by firefighters. Six fire engines were dispatched to fight the blaze.

The source of the fire was believed to be a liquid gas tank which exploded in one of the nearby food kiosks.

As rain drenched the city Monday night, a fire razed 60 houses on Jl Pualam Raya in the densely populated area of Sumur Batu in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, leaving at least 350 people homeless.

There were no reported fatalities but police are investigating the cause of the fire, which caused hundreds of millions of rupiah in damage.

According to the head of the local fire department, Freddy Aling, the fire was believed to have started about 11 p.m. when most residents were going to sleep.

"Some residents said the fire was most likely caused by a short circuit after lightning struck one of the houses."

Freddy said the fire spread quickly as most of the homes were made of flammable materials such as wood and built close together.

"As far as I can remember, none of the residents had a chance to save their belongings due to the enormous size of the blaze and its rapid escalation."

Twenty fire engines, including four from North Jakarta Fire Department, were dispatched to the scene along with 100 firefighters, he said. It took two and a half hours to extinguish the inferno.

Freddy said local people assisted the firefighters and there was a good supply of water.

Those left homeless are being housed temporarily in makeshift tents, provided by the municipality and local district military command and erected in a vacant lot on Jl. Pualam II.

A smaller blaze that night gutted a cellular phone shop on Jl. Samanhudi in the busy shopping district of Pasar Baru.

Freddy said an electrical short circuit was believed to be the cause of the fire, which started about 9:30 p.m.

"The fire, however, was isolated to the building and we were able to extinguish it in about one hour," he said. (edt/04)