Three Buildings in Jatinegara Catch Fire, Suspected Electrical Short-Circuit at Printing Shop
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Three buildings in a densely populated residential area on Jalan Cipinang Cempedak Raya No. 25, RT 07/RW 06, Kelurahan Cipinang Cempedak, Kecamatan Jatinegara, East Jakarta, caught fire, believed to have originated from an electrical short circuit at a printing shop.
The fire occurred on Wednesday evening around 17:00 WIB.
One eyewitness, Daniel (20), said he was in front of a workshop not far from the printing shop when the incident happened.
‘At first I was taking a friend to the workshop. Just arrived, suddenly from the printing shop next door someone shouted, “Brother, fire, fire!”’ Daniel said at the fire site on Wednesday.
The fire reportedly first appeared from a printing shop before quickly spreading to nearby buildings.
Hearing the shout, Daniel looked toward the printing shop.
He said he saw sparks from electrical cables at the top of the building that then grew rapidly.
‘Turns out there was a short circuit up there. The cable suddenly caught fire and the flames spread,’ Daniel said.
According to Daniel, the workshop and the printing shop were very close, so the fire quickly spread to other buildings.
In a short time, the flames grew larger and residents had difficulty controlling them.
‘Very close, tight. The flames were huge and there was nothing to be done,’ Daniel said.
Residents at the scene tried to extinguish the fire with whatever tools they had.
Some residents tried to douse the flames with water, while others tried to rescue belongings from inside the buildings.
‘Some people secured belongings, others also tried to put it out with water,’ Daniel said.
In the workshop where Daniel was, mechanics also hurried to evacuate several motorcycles being repaired so they would not burn.
‘Mechanics were fixing a troubled motorcycle. When the fire broke out, they managed to secure items and the motorcycle that were being worked on,’ Daniel explained.
He estimated that at least three buildings were affected due to the rapid spread of the fire from the initial location in the printing shop.
As of this report, the exact cause of the fire was still under investigation by authorities. The preliminary suspicion points to an electrical short circuit from cables in the printing area.
Firefighters were deployed to the scene to extinguish and cool the flames so that the fire would not spread further into the surrounding residential area.