El Nino Phenomenon, Fire and Rescue Service Handles 556 Fires

The Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency (Gulkarmat) recorded 556 fire cases had occurred in the period August to September 2023 or during the El Nino and Positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) phenomena.

The trend of burning garbage and cigarettes has also increased

Jakarta Gulkarmat Agency Head, Satriadi Gunawan said the El Nino and Positive IOD phenomena triggered an increase in extreme temperatures and caused drought in Indonesia.

Based on the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) observations, the El Nino and Positive IOD phenomena will result in the 2023 dry season being drier.

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"Extreme dry season that has been going on since August and will end in October 2023," he expressed, in his written statement, Saturday (10/7).

His party recorded that there had been 556 fire cases during the period August to September 2023.

The details of the objects burned were 131 incidents of residential buildings, 118 incidents of burning garbage, 88 incidents of plants, 71 incidents of public and commercial buildings, 69 incidents of external building installations, 21 incidents of vehicles, 9 incidents of stalls, 5 incidents of industrial buildings, and 39 incidents of others.

He explained several factors suspected to have caused 556 fire cases in the 2023 extreme dry season included electricity in 225 cases, burning rubbish in 143 cases, cigarettes in 53 cases, gas in 32 cases, and others in 100 cases.

"The use of electricity is still the biggest factor causing fires in Jakarta. However, the trend of burning garbage and cigarettes has also increased compared to the previous period due to burning activities continuing to increase in the extreme dry season of 2023," he explained.

During July 2023, there were 25 cases of fires caused by burning rubbish and this increased to 64 incidents in August and September, rising to 79 cases.

The increase in several fire cases caused by burning garbage or cigarette butts was because during the extreme dry season, many dry materials were flammable such as paper, cardboard, plastic and organic materials.

"When garbage is burned, paper and cardboard quickly produce the flames, coupled with strong winds that have the potential to spread to residential areas," he continued.

Moreover, the dry season also had an impact on reducing water sources for the fire extinguishing process at fire locations.

"Hence, we urge the public not to burn garbage in this extreme dry situation," he urged.

Even, his party has a Gulkarmat Task Force at the sub-district level which had the task of empowering the community in fire prevention efforts.

"We also need the role of the community to jointly raise awareness regarding fire prevention measures. If a fire occurs, people immediately report it by calling the Jakarta Siaga 112 service which can be accessed 24 hours and is free or go to the nearest fire station," he stated.