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