More firefighters needed but inefficiency scorned

More firefighters needed but inefficiency scorned

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Though the Tanah Abang fire station is only 600 meters away,
it took firefighters one hour to reach the Kampung Bali
neighborhood, where a fire raged.

Worse still, it took more time for the weary and aging fire
crews to bring their short-range leaking hoses ran down the
narrow alley through an increasingly-angry crowd.

The problems did not stop there. Fire brigades could not find
the kampung's water hydrant, prompting the fire engines to form a
line to route water from a hydrant some 300 meters away.

And one of the fire engines had to be removed from the scene
because apparently it did not work.

Ten minutes passed by and the firefighters were replaced by
incompetent masses forced to personally extinguish the blaze.

This chaos mirrors the plight of a City Fire Department ridden
with problems, ranging from aging firefighters to badly
maintained old equipment.

Most of all, the snail-pace arrivals of fire brigades have
often angered fire victims.

"How come they arrive one hour after we called them. All our
houses have already been burned down to the ground," said Ewin,
30, a resident of Kampung Bali subdistrict.

Poorly-maintained equipment is another problem for the fire
department, which has an annual budget of Rp 136 billion (about
US$1.36 million).

Leaking hoses are commonplace, even those being used to fight
fires.

And in an estimated three to five years the department will
face a personnel disaster as there has been no recruitment of
field personnel since 1984, said deputy chief of the City Fire
Agency, Johnny Panggaribuan.

"Currently, our youngest firefighter is 35 years old, and if
there is no recruitment in the near future, then our department
will be history," he said.

The brigade has some 1,425 firefighters located in 70 posts
across the city. They work 24 hours in every 72-hour period.

Johnny said that not long ago the agency received some 200
employees from the now-defunct provincial offices to be used as
firefighters. Unfortunately, the majority were older than 35
years.

"Many of our aging firefighters should be behind a desk, but
that is not possible because we still lack firefighters," Johnny
added.

He admitted that the fire fighters often came late because of
heavy traffic, late reporting of fires by locals, and the mass
intervention.

"To arrive on time, we ideally must have at least one post
equipped with two fire engines and eight crew in every district
of Jakarta.

"There are 265 districts, which means we have to provide at
least 530 fire engines and 2,120 fire fighters," he said.

The Agency has 152 fire engines, five command vehicles, five
ambulances, and three stair-engine vehicles located in five
regions. The oldest vehicle was made in 1967. The latest fire
engines were made in 1980s, while three stair engines were made
this year.

One fire engine can only carry 10 hoses, each up to 20-meters
long.

"The leaking of the hoses, which can not be patched, is due to
the improper maintenance. The hoses should be cleaned and dried
after use. But we don't have any spare hoses. Ideally we should
have at least three," he said.

There are an average of two or three fires in the city a day,
resulting in a high usage of the equipment.

M. Taufik, Chairman for the Research Center on Jakarta, said
that the City Fire Agency needed to be reorganized immediately
due to its poor performance, specifically for its lack of
anticipation and evaluation of fire cases.

"They always blame the traffic jams and the mass intervention.
They have to be proactive," he said.

He added that aging equipment and personnel also contributed
to the problems.

Taufik said firstly, the brigade must have a comprehensive and
up-to-date map of fire-prone areas. They must also plan ahead,
such as knowing where the hydrants were located.

Secondly, the agency should take serious account of its
management and personnel, meaning that the brigade must be
managed by professionals, he said.

Thirdly, the ratio of the equipment must be adjusted with the
city's housing ratio and lastly, to eliminate mass intervention,
the brigade must teach the public how to handle the fire, he
said.