Fire guts kiosks near Kramat Jati market

A fire destroyed at least eight kiosks in front of the Kramat Jati market in East Jakarta on Friday morning, with no fatalities or injuries reported.

Witnesses said that flames were first seen at one food stall at about 8 a.m. The fire quickly spread to other kiosks selling various products, including books, plastic items and staple foods.

“Eight kiosks were destroyed in minutes. We saw the fire but could do nothing,” said Wawan, a vegetable vendor.

The East Jakarta Fire Agency sent 15 fire trucks to put out the blaze. The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire at 9 a.m.

“The fire was allegedly triggered by an electrical short-circuit,” said M Sontang, the head of coordination division at the agency.

Another firefighter, Muharram, said that financial losses could reach more than Rp 1.6 billion (US$117,600).

“Quick calculations show that each kiosk has lost at least Rp 200 million. However, final losses could be higher,” he said.

Traffic in the area was diverted to Jl. Cililitan Besar before the fire was extinguished. The diverted traffic caused severe gridlock that stretched more than two kilometers.

In the past few days, there have been at least three fires reported in the city.

One blaze occurred in a housing complex in Jl. Cilandak Tengah, next to Cilandak Town Square, South Jakarta, around midnight Thursday.

According to firefighter Sana, there were 13 fire trucks sent to extinguish the fire.

“Only one house caught fire. It’s a well managed housing complex so we could get there quicker,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

He said there was no one injured in the fire, but the fire department and the police were still assessing the cause of the fire and financial losses incurred in the incident.

On Wednesday, dozens of houses in densely-populated Pekojan, West Jakarta, caught fire. Twenty-five fire trucks were sent to the area to battle the flames.

Monday’s fire in Kapuk, West Jakarta gutted four household plastic factories, which continued to smolder for several days. Faulty wiring was blamed as the cause.

No fatalities reported in either incident.

Jakarta Fire Agency blames faulty wiring as the cause behind most fires in the city.

The agency’s head Paimin Napitupulu said many people were interfering with circuit breakers, leading to disastrous results. Limited power supply has prompted households and many home industries in Jakarta to illegally upgrade electricity, he said.

State electricity company PT PLN recorded that from January to November last year, the company found over 5,000 customers who have been illegally upgrading the limit of their mini circuit breakers.

Most fires took place in the city’s low-income subdistricts, including Tambora and Pademangan in West Jakarta, Penjaringan and Cilincing in North Jakarta, and Cipinang and Cakung in East Jakarta. The fires in these neighborhoods were usually difficult to handle as the houses were made from flammable materials. In addition, Paimin said, the areas had minimal access to water hydrants or other water sources.

The agency also said that most buildings in Jakarta were prone to fires due to their old age and lack of attention to fire safety equipment.

As stipulated in a 2008 regulation, every building has to comply with fire safety standards, including the selection of building materials, accessibility of emergency exits, early detection systems and proper fire hoses. (lfr)