Power outages cause increase in fires

Power outages cause increase in fires

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Fires in Palu, Central Sulawesi, have
jumped 30 percent in the first six months of the year compared to
the same period last year because of frequent power outages, the
fire service says.

City fire and parks department head Abdullah Tandjegau said on
Tuesday that most of the 19 fires happened at night during the
outages.

"Most of the fires were sparked by candles or kerosene lamps
that were left unattended or located in fire-prone places,"
Tandjegau said.

Financial losses resulting from the fires were estimated at
more than Rp 1 billion (US$122,000).

Tandjegau complained about the lack of personnel and
equipment. He said the department only had five fire engines and
36 personnel, far from the minimum requirement of eight fire
engines and 60 on-call staff.

"Despite the shortcomings, we still have to be ready to
operate in the neighboring regencies of Donggala and Parigi-
Moutong," he said. -- Antara