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.