Smoke Emerges at Istiqlal Mosque as Firefighters Trace Source to UPS Unit in Server Room

Firefighters have revealed the source of smoke that appeared at Istiqlal Mosque on Wednesday evening, tracing it to a burning Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) unit in the mosque’s server room.

“What caught fire appears to have been caused by molten material dripping from a panel above — the UPS battery,” said Agus Sya’ban, Duty Officer of the Central Jakarta Fire and Rescue Sub-department, speaking to reporters in the grounds of Istiqlal Mosque on Wednesday (18/2/2026).

A UPS is an electronic device that provides temporary backup power when the main electricity supply is interrupted. The burning unit produced significant amounts of smoke.

“The fire was confined to the server room only — there was no spread,” he said.

Agus said the fire report was received at approximately 20.40 WIB, with firefighters arriving at the scene minutes later.

“When we arrived at the scene there was still a point of fire, roughly half a metre of flame burning at the base. We extinguished it using a portable fire extinguisher,” he added.

The burning UPS produced thick smoke. After the fire was put out, firefighters also used equipment to extract the remaining smoke from the room.

“The smoke was extremely dense when we arrived — we could not enter without breathing apparatus, which is why we used SCBA [Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus],” said another firefighter, Ramdan.

He confirmed that conditions were now safe and under control, with no remaining smoke or fire at the location.

“It’s safe. All the smoke has been cleared,” he said.

Firefighters received the initial report of smoke at 20.13 WIB. A total of nine fire engines and 36 personnel were dispatched to Istiqlal Mosque, located on Jalan Taman Wijaya Kusuma, Pasar Baru, Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta.

Emergency response operations began at 20.17 WIB. Detailed information regarding the sequence of events and the precise cause of the UPS fire has not yet been released.

Notably, Istiqlal Mosque was hosting the first congregational tarawih prayers of Ramadan 1447 Hijriah on the same evening. The atmosphere during tarawih prayers remained orderly and undisturbed throughout the firefighters’ response to the incident.