Tangerang faces rising cases of fire
Tangerang faces rising cases of fire
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Tangerang has seen at least 50 large fires in the past three
months, adding to the municipality's woes of massive layoffs and
drought.
The local fire department chief, Hendro Ruswiyanto, told The
Jakarta Post over the weekend that most of the large fires had
occurred at factories, private residences and poultry farms.
Total losses have been estimated at Rp 25 billion.
No fatalities were reported in the fires.
Hendro said most of the factory and house fires were caused by
short circuits and faulty gas cylinder hoses.
The latest fire broke out at PT Hasatama Kharisma, a
manufacturer of rubber products on Jl. Industri II, Jatake
Industrial Estate, Pasir Jaya subdistrict, Tangerang
municipality.
According to Nurhadi, a staff member of the company's human
resources development division, the fire was caused by a gas
cylinder used to fuel the incinerator near one of the factory's
production machines.
"We're still calculating the total losses caused by the fire,"
he told the Post by phone last week.
He said three of the factory machines's that were bought in
1997 for Rp 100 million each were totally destroyed, as were the
factory warehouse and two tons of elasticized fabric used to make
bras.
Siregar, 56, a resident in Tanah Tinggi subdistrict of
Tangerang municipality, said he suffered nearly Rp 100 million in
losses after his house was devoured by fire early this month.
"The fire was caused by a short circuit. I hadn't checked the
wiring since the house was built in 1982. It was my own
negligence," said the father of three who now lives in a
temporary kiosk near his burned-down house.
Hendro said that people should regularly check the electrical
wiring and gas cylinder hoses in their homes and replace them
every 10 years.
He also said that the fire department found it difficult to
extinguish fires because it lacked facilities.
According to Hendro, the fire department faced numerous
obstacles in fighting fires due to a lack of fire trucks, human
resources, communication, protective gear and office equipment.
He said three of the department's eight fire trucks were in
need of repair, but this office lacked the funds to pay for it.
"It costs Rp 50 million per year to maintain one fire truck,
but we are only given Rp 1 million per truck per annum," he said.