Rash of fires in Jakarta surpasses 2010 total

Jakarta is experiencing one of its most combustible seasons to date, as the Jakarta Fire Department recorded 736 fires in the capital between January and September, which have claimed 12 lives.

“These fires happened mostly in the city’s densely populated areas,” Jakarta Fire Department head Paimin Napitupulu said on Monday.

West Jakarta has the highest number of fires with 183. South Jakarta was second with 169 fires and East Jakarta was third with 162.

North Jakarta and Central Jakarta recorded 140 and 81 incidents, respectively, with the Thousand Islands regency recording only one.

A total of 61 residents were injured in the fires along with 11 firefighters.

The fire department estimated the total loss from fires at around Rp 174 billion (US$19.48 million).

Paimin said the number of fires in the first nine months of the year had already exceeded last year’s total.

A total of 684 fires broke out in the capital last year. The city administration recorded 843 fires in 2009 and 792 in 2008.

“Although that number will likely keep increasing, I hope it does not break the 2007 record of 902 reported fires,” Paimin said.

He said that efforts to extinguish the fires were hampered by malfunctioning fire hydrants throughout the city. Of the 1,418 hydrants in Jakarta, 60 percent were broken, according to data from the department.

Paimin said that 60 percent of the fires — a total of 457 — were triggered by short circuits.

In August, the peak of the dry season, the fire department recorded 141 fires, resulting in a loss of Rp 30.07 billion.

The Jakarta Fire Department has listed 35 low-income, densely populated subdistricts as most prone to fires, including Tambora and Pademangan in West Jakarta, Penjaringan and Cilincing in North Jakarta and Cipinang and Cakung in East Jakarta.

Fires in these neighborhoods are notoriously difficult to fight. Houses in the packed neighborhoods are usually makeshift and constructed from flammable materials, with minimal access to fire hydrants or water sources.

Following a spike in fires attributed to short circuits, the Jakarta administration is drafting a new bylaw that would allow it to bypass the state electricity authority to clamp down on illegal power connections.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the city needed the bylaw because more than 40 percent of Jakarta’s residents were connected to the city electrical grid at houses without building permits, rendering those connections illegal. He said that these jury-rigged connections were prone to short-circuiting and thus were fire hazards.

State electricity utility company PT PLN has thrown its weight behind the Jakarta administration’s plan to draft the new bylaw.

Paranai Suhasfan, PLN’s distribution manager for Jakarta and Tangerang, said that the company was ready to submit to any regulations the city issued.

“We prepared our officials from our legal and business divisions to meet with officials of the city administration,” Paranai said.

With the bylaw, the city aims to allow only legal residents with building permits to apply for electricity connections from PLN.