Fire at Pondok Bambu Allegedly Triggered by Electrical Short

An electrical short circuit is suspected to have triggered the fire of two houses and four kiosks on Jalan Laksamana Malahayati, Gang Swadaya RT 04/04, Pondok Bambu Urban Village, Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, Tuesday (5/19) at around 2.44 AM in the morning.

declared complete at around 4:08 AM

East Jakarta Fire Handling and Rescue Sub-agency's Head Section of Operation, Abdul Wahid said residents became aware of this incident when the fire had already grown and immediately contacted the authorities.

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"Residents saw that the fire had grown bigger, then contacted the fire department for help and we immediately went to the scene," he said.

To extinguish the fire, Wahid explained, his team deployed 13 fire engines with 65 personnel.

"The firefighting operation began at 2:54 AM, and by around 3:26 AM, officers had successfully completed the cooling process. The firefighting operation was declared complete at around 4:08 AM," he explained.

There were no fatalities or injuries in the incident. However, residents lost their homes and businesses. Material losses are still being calculated.

Meanwhile, Head of Pondok Bambu Urban Village, Ateng Surahman stated the number of buildings that burned down consisted of two houses and four motorbike repair shops and six meatball carts.

As a result of this incident, at least 10 families, or 27 people, lost their homes and businesses. They are currently applying for social assistance from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), the Social Affairs Sub-agency, or other agencies.

"Regarding the evacuation tents, we will first coordinate with the neighborhood association (RW) administrators to determine whether a request is necessary. We are currently still re-assessing the number of people and the assistance they require," he stated.