Over 2,000 homeless as fire hits Sawah Besar
Over 2,000 homeless as fire hits Sawah Besar
JAKARTA (JP): A fire which destroyed more than 100 houses in
Sawah Besar district, Central Jakarta, yesterday, left 330
families, or more than 2,000 people, homeless.
Residents of Jl. F Karang Anyar, in Karang Anyar subdistrict,
quarreled with firefighters, who arrived late on the scene, and
grabbed water hoses from them. They tried to extinguish the fire,
which started at about 9 a.m., by themselves.
According to fire victims, the fire engines came half an hour
after the fire was reported, but firefighters claimed they
arrived in only eight minutes.
Central Jakarta Fire Department head Freddy Aling said
firefighters arrived a bit late because they had difficulties
reaching the location due to limited access.
The residents managed the hoses for a while before they were
taken over by firefighters again.
Before firefighters arrived on the scene, the residents used
any available means to extinguish the fire.
A resident fainted after he fell from a roof when he tried to
help extinguish the fire.
"I used two fire extinguishers, but I couldn't put out the
fire at my house," a resident said.
Freddy said strong winds also allowed the fire to spread
quickly to other houses.
Lack of access to water was another obstacle for firefighters
extinguishing the fire, which did not claim any lives, he added.
The hoses manhandled by residents also made it difficult for
firefighters to extinguish the fire quickly, Freddy said.
He called on people to be patient at fires scenes and let
firefighters do their job of putting fires out.
He said 22 fire engines were deployed and managed to control
the fire by 11:30 a.m.
Freddy said the cause of the fire was still being
investigated, but it was suspected a kerosene stove explosion
might have been the cause.
Residents believed the fire originated from a house owned by a
man identified as Asep.
Some other residents said that they believed Asep deliberately
burned down his house.
"This was the fourth fire at Asep's house and the biggest fire
in the past five years," Yulianto, a resident, said.
Last year, a mattress in Asep's house was burned, but the fire
was immediately put out, he said.
"Asep hasn't shown up. He's probably hiding for fear that
residents might mob him," another resident said.
There was a rumor that a low-cost apartment would be built in
the area, residents said.
Dozens of residents were later sheltered at nearby Karang
Anyar subdistrict office.
Residents asked the government to allow them to rebuild their
houses, since there was nowhere else to stay.
On April 3, 100 houses in nearby Kartini subdistrict, also in
Sawah Besar, were destroyed by fire.
A quarrel between firefighters and residents also took place,
where the fire raged for nearly three hours before it was
extinguished. (jun)