N. Jakarta fire razes 300 homes

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fire engulfed about 300 houses in the densely populated Pejagalan subdistrict, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, leaving more than 500 families homeless.

The fire, which spread through a 9,000-square-meter area, started late on Friday and was extinguished in the early hours of Saturday.

"It was first reported at 11:15 p.m. on Friday," Basuki, a firefighter, said.

Police speculated that the fire was caused by a short circuit in one of the houses.

Most residents in the area are factory workers and small-scale traders.

Around 17 fire engines from the North Jakarta Fire Department were deployed to the scene.

Fire victims were evacuated to nearby houses and to tents erected near the fire site, and are now waiting for further aid from the local administration.

Some 50 police personnel were also deployed to safeguard the fire site and the valuables that residents managed to save from the fire.

A number of slum areas in the capital have been razed by fire recently, with short circuits a frequent cause. The last fire occurred on Monday, when 195 slum houses in Karet Tengsin, Central Jakarta, were razed, leaving 1,150 people homeless.

Basuki said data at the Jakarta Fire Department showed that from January through Oct. 27, 571 fires had occurred in the capital.