Most Jakarta houses are vulnerable to fire due to public ignorance
Most Jakarta houses are vulnerable to fire due to public ignorance
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
You may well be concerned that your home must be nicely arranged
for your comfort. Iron bars might be installed on the windows,
doors and fences to ensure security.
But, one big question remains. Is your home safe from fire?
You may find out the answer by checking first how many exit
points are available at your home.
If there is only one access which serves both as the entry and
exit point, you must ensure whether it is resistant to fire.
If the answer is no, please beware. Your home is too risky to
live in.
If fire guts your home, it can burn your exit door and block
your escape.
City Regulation No. 3, 1992 on fire prevention requires all
buildings, including houses, to have fire exits.
It also stipulates that doors meant to be exit ways open
outwards so panicked residents can easily escape by pushing them.
The exit passageways must be made of fireproof material to
ensure that people can flee the fire.
The regulation also requires the exit ways must be clear of
goods blocking the way at all times. They are not allowed to be
used for purposes other than a fire exit, it says.
Jakarta City Fire Department head Johnny Pangaribuan said that
tightly packed residential areas in Jakarta were the most
vulnerable to massive fires.
"Around 80 percent of the fires in the city affect residential
areas like the last massive fire in Manggarai, South Jakarta,"
Johnny said.
Short circuits and exploding fuel stoves are the most frequent
cause of fire in the residential areas.
As of January this year, Johnny said, there were 122 fires
reported in the city which claimed five lives.
Maria Goreti, 35, a resident of Kedoya, West Jakarta admitted
her home was in the high fire-risk category.
"My house shares the walls with our neighbors' homes to the
right and the left. We are also located in the dead end."
Maria admitted that if fire struck, she would be trapped, not
to mention the lack of water or portable fire extinguishers
available to fight the fire.
"The house is the cheapest rented house of its kind, close to
my husband's office. I don't think that I can rent a better house
at the same cheap price given Jakarta's notoriety for its dense
population," said Maria.
Fire protection equipment is required by city regulations.
The regulations also require every neighborhood unit to
provide portable fire extinguishers. In dense areas, every
community unit must have portable fire extinguishers and water
reservoirs with a minimum capacity of 30 cubic meters.
However, a neighborhood unit chief in Kelapa Gading Barat,
North Jakarta, Suwandi S, said he had never heard about the laws.
"That's why we have no fire extinguisher," Suwandi said.
Suwandi acknowledged that it would be difficult for the
residents to escape fire as almost all the houses in his
neighborhood only had one door.
"However, I myself have a portable extinguisher at home. Just
in case."
Ensure your residential area is safe from fire
1. Have at home "traditional" fire extinguishers like buckets,
sand, a ladder and jute sacks in places which can be easily
reached.
2. Use an automatic short circuit breaker.
3. If you live in a building with four-stories or more, ensure
you have automatic fire alarm systems, and if you have a building
sitting on more than 1,000 square meters, have at least one
hydrant.
4. Install hydrants or water reservoirs at least in your
neighborhood unit.
5. Ensure that if fire guts your home, fire engines can reach
your home. Avoid the use of a gateway which blocks the way
leading to your home.