Managers of Mediterania Apartment Claim Fire Protection System is Functional
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The managers of Mediterania Apartment in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, have claimed that the building’s fire protection system, including alarms and sprinklers, functioned normally when a fire broke out in Cattaleya Tower (C) on Thursday morning.
Mediterania Apartment Manager, Anggi Febrianti, assured that the Main Control Fire Alarm (MCFA) of the building was working well and immediately detected the fire point at the start of the incident.
“The initial condition of the incident today was around half past seven in the morning. Our MCFA did identify the presence of a fire. Our team immediately headed to the location to carry out extinguishing efforts, assisted by the fire department team,” said Anggi to reporters at the scene on Thursday.
This claim was made in response to complaints from several residents who said they did not hear the warning alarm when thick smoke had already enveloped the corridors of their units.
On the other hand, the management guaranteed that the entire system complied with safety standards and that they routinely carried out certifications and inspections.
“I can assure you that (the alarm) did sound. That’s why the incident team at 07:30 WIB was immediately on the way to the location. It is confirmed that all our building’s alarm systems are functioning well. You can see that the alarm is still sounding even now. I also have videos of the sprinklers breaking,” explained Anggi.
Regarding the sprinklers that did not release water, Anggi stated that the apartment’s sprinklers are designed to react to extreme heat temperatures, not just smoke plumes.
“The fire protection system means the sprinkler will break when the floor is indicated to have heat at a certain temperature. If other floors that are not experiencing it, the heat doesn’t reach there, it won’t break. That’s how the system works,” she clarified.
In addition, Anggi mentioned that emergency announcements via voice were also immediately activated, but focused on the affected zones.
“Lifts, access releases, and from earlier, if the building’s system wasn’t working properly, then the fire department team or PMI who carried out the evacuation earlier wouldn’t be able to use the lifts,” she explained.
Residents’ Accounts
Meanwhile, a resident of Mediterania Apartment named Antonius admitted that he was once trapped in his unit because fire smoke was billowing from the floor below.
Antonius and several other residents were forced to go up to the 35th floor, or seven floors above his unit, to find clean air.
“Yes, we had to be vacuumed by the fire department because we couldn’t breathe. We could only go up to the 35th floor, we couldn’t go down because the smoke was already very full,” said Antonius to reporters at the scene on Thursday afternoon.
Antonius and other residents initially wanted to use the lift for self-evacuation, but the lift was also filled with fire smoke.
“We tried to self-evacuate by going down the emergency stairs or the service lift. It turned out the service lift itself was already filled with smoke,” said Antonius.
He and the other residents had no other choice but to wait for rescue from the fire department officers.
“So what we did was just wait until the fire department team picked us up. Because if we forced ourselves into the service lift, that lift was full of smoke, we would definitely pass out there,” he said.
Nevertheless, Antonius admitted that several residents on the 28th floor ended up experiencing shortness of breath from inhaling the smoke plumes.
“I think the ones worse off are definitely those on the 28th floor and below. The 28th floor and below, they probably wanted to go up but there’s smoke, down also smoke,” he stated.
Regarding what he experienced, Antonius questioned the building’s fire protection system.
“The thing we’re confused about is this: the source of the fire smoke is from the basement. But the thick smoke reached the 28th floor, the smoke was very black, like the distance was only a few metres,” he said.
He suspected that the fire alarm on the 28th floor did not activate even though smoke had already billowed on that floor.
“The sprinklers and fire alarms did not work properly or effectively, like the fire simulation carried out by the West Jakarta fire department team. That’s what we regret,” explained Antonius.