Sawah Besar fire destroys 100 houses

JAKARTA (JP): A fire destroyed at least 100 houses in the crowded Kartini subdistrict in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta yesterday, leaving hundreds of people homeless.

Most of the houses in six neighborhood units were rented by employees of the nearby Pasar Baru shopping center and others were clothing home industries and shops. Only one person was reported injured, suffering minor head injuries.

Many of the shop employees, mostly young women, arrived home from work and burst into tears in front of the remains of their homes.

"I had all my valuable belongings in my room," a woman said.

Smoke billowed so high that many people thought Pasar Baru shopping center was on fire again.

On Jan. 27, at least 300 shops in the Harco shopping center in Pasar Baru were destroyed by fire, causing losses of billions of rupiah.

The fire in the Kartini subdistrict began at 11 a.m. and gutted houses on two streets. Losses are estimated at hundreds of billions of rupiah. An electrical short circuit in a house is believed to be the cause, Central Jakarta fire chief Freddy Aling said.

Nineteen fire engines were deployed and firefighters managed to put out the fire at around 2:30 p.m. Hundreds of meters of hoses were joined to get water from a river. Firefighters had difficulty getting to the fire because of the narrow, crowded streets.

A resident of Jl. Laksana said she was selling food on the ground floor of her house when she saw the fire on the second floor.

"Then I fled and screamed for help," said Ceni Suwarti, whose mother-in-law owned the house.

Quarrel

Yesterday's fire prompted a heated quarrel between firefighters and residents.

Several locals charged firefighters with only spraying water on the homes of the wealthy, where the fire was just beginning to spread.

"I will burn the fire engine if you don't spray water on our houses first," a resident threatened firefighters. At the same time other grabbed a hose to spray their houses.

Deputy Mayor Tursandi Alwi inspected the fire site yesterday and said victims could take refuge in nearby mosques and viharas or Buddhist temples. Help would come soon, he said.

A few hours before the Sawah Besar fire, two smaller fires broke out in Karang Anyar and Senen, also in Central Jakarta.

A fire destroyed the roofs of three houses in Karang Anyar at 10 a.m. but was put out within an hour.

An electrical short circuit was also believed to be the cause but police have questioned a man, identified as Maman, who they suspect of burning his uncle's house while drunk.

Two people suffered minor burns and one was treated at the Husada hospital, West Jakarta.

Almost at the same time, another fire razed a house in Senen. The fire, also caused by an electrical short circuit, was extinguished in less than an hour.

At least seven people have been killed and thousands left homeless in more than 40 fires in the last four months. (jun/11)