As Muslims around Jakarta on Sunday prepared to break their first day of fasting for the month of Ramadhan in high spirits in their family homes, hundreds of people in the slums of far North Jakarta were coping with a devastating loss of housing and wondering where their next meal would come from.

On Saturday, an otherwise normal morning for the residents of the densely populated and impoverished area of Muara Baru was punctuated by a fire that destroyed 182 homes and left an estimated 1,456 people homeless and displaced. And all of this just in time for the start of Ramadhan the following day.

The fire started at 11 a.m. and continued burning until around 2 p.m., when residents and fire trucks successfully doused the flames with buckets of water and high pressure hoses. To add insult to injury in an already turbulent situation, two fire trucks crashed in road traffic en route to Muara Baru, as reported by tempo.co. Local sources confirmed the incident.

'€œI wanted to go in and help people but the fire just kept getting bigger so I couldn'€™t,'€ said Sale, a Muara Baru resident.

The scene was described by locals as extremely chaotic, with people fleeing from their homes with only their family members and the clothes that they were wearing, while police attempted to direct vehicle and foot traffic.

Resident Abdul Bari was just returning home from work when he saw the fire. '€œWhen I saw the flames, all I could think about was finding my family,'€ he said.

Faulty electrical wiring and circuitry was the alleged cause of the fire, according to Subur Rojinawi, program executive for disaster risk management with the National Humanitarian Aid Institution (PKPU), which responded to the aftermath of the fire. '€œHere [in Muara Baru] there is a lot of unsanctioned electricity and unprotected wiring, which is probably what started the fire,'€ said Subur. He added that no one had been killed, though several were injured while running from the blaze.

With more than 300 families and 1,000 people homeless, independent aid organizations such as the PKPU and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) have been trying to provide shelter, food packages and other basic necessities. The Social Affairs Ministry had also sent workers to help, according to Hamka, a PMI communications coordinator who was assisting in aid efforts at Muara Baru.

The PMI constructed three temporary tents to house the displaced families and also handed out food. People were able to break fasting on Sunday with rice, chicken, water and milk, according to Hamka. No special food was prepared for Ramadhan, though mosquito repellent lotion was provided.

'€œMy feelings are so-so [regarding Ramadhan]. I'€™d be happier if my house hadn'€™t burnt down,'€ said Sapri, a resident now homeless due to the fire. '€œOn Sunday I waited for the PMI to bring food before breaking the fast,'€ he added. Sapri also indicated that no food packages were given by the community in relation to Ramadhan.

Even representatives from the current presidential campaigns made an appearance, with members of the camp of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto handing out water bottles on Sunday afternoon. It was rumored that representatives of rival candidate Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo would soon do similar.

The PMI will only give out food until Wednesday, after which time the homeless are on their own in terms of finding sustenance. Hamka said that it is standard policy for the PMI to only provide food assistance for three days, though the PMI will leave the tent shelters up for longer to allow residents time to find new housing or rebuild their homes on the ash-strewn foundations. '€œWe'€™ll have to wait and see [about the tents],'€ said Hamka.

'€œIf it rains we'€™ll probably get wet,'€ said Sapri in reference to the open air nature of the temporary PMI-provided tents.

Beta, another resident whose home was consumed by the fire, said that many people will be forced to buy materials such as bamboo and cement to construct new houses from scratch. For the time being, Beta said some community
members would provide accommodation to families with small children.

This is not the first time such a large and destructive fire has ravaged Muara Baru, with 32 cases of electrical or gas-related fires occurring in the area between January and March this year as reported by beritajakarta.com, speaking to the strong need to refurbish the neighborhood'€™s electrical power infrastructure.

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The Writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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