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New Year’s fireworks set North Jakarta houses ablaze
Fireworks caused two separate fires on New Year's Day in North Jakarta, damaging a handful of houses and a local government office and injuring one person.
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Various types of fireworks and firecrackers for sale are displayed on Dec. 12, 2019, at Asemka Morning Market in Tambora, West Jakarta. (Kompas.com/M Lukman Pabriyanto)
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local fire department has pointed to fireworks as the cause of two fires early on New Year’s Day that damaged several houses and the roof of a government office in North Jakarta.
The first fire occurred in Cilincing district, damaging three semipermanent houses and three informal dwellings where six families lived, said Gatot Sulaeman, head of the North Jakarta and Thousand Islands Fire and Rescue Agency.
"We received a call about the fire at 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday,” Gatot said, as quoted by Antara. The agency deployed 40 personnel and eight fire trucks, “and the fire was extinguished by 2:06 a.m.”, he added.
“From the information we received, the fire started when a firecracker [was set off] in an informal dwelling. The fire then spread to other [buildings],” Gatot said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
A 70-year-old resident of one of the affected houses was the only person injured in the incident, suffering burns.
"That person has been taken to Cilincing Regional General Hospital for treatment," Gatot said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
In neighboring Koja district, a fire broke out at the North Rawa Badak subdistrict office at 12:34 a.m.
“The fire damaged 6 square meters of the roof. The fire started after a firework rocket landed on the roof,” Gatot said, as quoted by Antara.
Three fire trucks were deployed to the scene and extinguished the fire some 30 minutes later. No one was injured in the incident.
