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Four killed, 150 left homeless by Tambora blaze

Five people were killed and 150 were left homeless when a fire originating from an in-house clothing workshop razed 10 houses in a densely populated area in Tambora, West Jakarta, on Tuesday

Indra Budiari and Dewanti Wardhani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, January 20, 2016

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Four killed, 150 left homeless by Tambora blaze

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ive people were killed and 150 were left homeless when a fire originating from an in-house clothing workshop razed 10 houses in a densely populated area in Tambora, West Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Tambora Police head Comr. Wirdhanto said Tuesday that police had identified the victims as Riki, 35; Eva, 30; Popo, 70; Sensen, 3; and Ardi, 20.

'€œRiki and Eva were husband and wife, Sensen was their child, Popo was the grandmother and Ardi was an employee at the workshop,'€ Wirdhanto said, adding that the fire had started in the house owned by Riki, who also used it as a clothing workshop.

The five are believed to have been trapped in the house, unable to save themselves from the fire that started to rage at 1:30 p.m.

Wirdhanto said the preliminary investigation had shown that the fire had been caused by an electrical short circuit from the workshop, but added that a further investigation was needed before drawing
conclusions.

Separately, Tambora district head Djaharidin said the district office and local residents had established an evacuation post to accommodate 150 people of 50 families whose homes were destroyed by the fire.

'€œMost of the destroyed homes are rented houses, so a lot of people were affected. We will provide them with an evacuation post, an emergency kitchen and a medical post,'€ he said.

Nursama, sitting in front of debris that used to be her house, was in tears to see almost everything she possessed destroyed by the fire.

'€œAll of my belongings aside from a motorcycle have been destroyed by the fire,'€ Nurasama told the The Jakarta Post, while wiping her tears with her orange dress. '€œThe only good thing here is that my family was spared.'€

With a density of more than 40,000 residents per square kilometer, Tambora has been named one of the most populous districts in Southeast Asia.

As a densely populated neighborhood with a lot of rented houses, the area is prone to fire. In September last year, 150 houses were burnt down only a kilometer away from Tuesday'€™s scene.

Fire and Disaster Mitigation Agency head Subejo said that West Jakarta was generally prone to fire, especially highly populated neighborhoods like Tambora. He said residents often neglected the dangers of improper electrical wiring, which could result in fires.

'€œPopulated neighborhoods, such as Tambora, often have improper electrical wiring. This is dangerous, because it can easily cause short circuits,'€ Subejo said at City Hall on Tuesday.

He went on to say that the agency often carried out preventive measures by educating residents on the dangers of improper electrical wiring and what to do in the event of a fire. However, without proper electrical infrastructure, such an attempt was fruitless, he said.

In 2015, the agency recorded almost 1,500 fire incidents throughout the capital, mostly caused by
electricity.

As many as 56 areas of Jakarta are classified as fire-prone, including South Manggarai, Bukit Duri and Mampang Prapatan in South Jakarta, Penjaringan, Warakas and Koja in North Jakarta, Jatinegara Barat and Halim in East Jakarta, Kebon Kacang and Kramat Sentiong in Central Jakarta and West Palmerah in West Jakarta.

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said the city administration was offering residents in fire-prone areas the option of moving to low-cost rental apartments. However they would need to wait for the completion of 2,400 low-costs units later in the year.

'€œOne solution is to relocate the residents to low-cost apartments later. Neighborhoods prone to fire are no place to live in,'€ Ahok told reporters Tuesday.

He urged state-owned electricity company PT PLN to crack down on improper electrical wiring.

'€œWe can'€™t offer anything except offering the residents to be relocated to low-cost apartments. PLN should raid such neighborhoods, because they have the authority [to do so],'€ Ahok said.

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