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