Residents demand fire department

Residents demand fire department

TANGERANG: Residents living in the northern part of Tangerang
regency (Pantura) have asked the regency administration to
establish a fire department in the area.

"If there is a fire, we have to wait for fire trucks to come
from Curug district, which is 30 kilometers from here," said
Surta Wijaya, a community leader in Teluk Naga district.

"We have to put out the fires ourselves ... If we were to
wait, the fire would consume everything," he told The Jakarta
Post.

The demand was made after a fire caused by a short circuit on
Monday evening caused extensive damage in the Mutiara Garuda
housing complex in Teluk Naga.

A community leader in Kosambi, Isam, said separately that
fires could be extinguished faster if fire trucks were stationed
locally.

"We will submit our request to the regency council ... Please
bear in mind that a fire waits for nobody," he said. -- JP