Fires in Jakarta a ‘Classic’ Problem

Dinas Pemadaman Kebakaran dan Penyelamatan DKI Jakarta

A fire devours a densely populated residential area on Jalan Lagoa Kanal, Kebon Bawang Village, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Thursday (7/10/2021)

Fire disasters are a classic problem in the densely populated residential settlements of Jakarta. The only proper solution is prevention and intervention before a fire spreads.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — At around 1 a.m. on 20 Sept. 2020, fire began to spread across the semi-permanent dwellings and wooden storehouses in the densely populated residential area of Kalibaru in Cilincing, North Jakarta. Fifteen hours later, after the last flames had been extinguished, hundreds of homes inhabited by 160 families had been burned to the ground.

A month earlier, a similar incident occurred in West Pademangan subdistrict of Pademangan district, North Jakarta. As many as 200 residents of community unity (RW) 010 had to flee their homes from a fire.

These two disasters are classic examples of Jakarta fires: blazes that engulf the homes of residents who can only afford to live in semi-permanent dwellings in dense settlements filled with narrow streets.

Also read:

> Two Dead Service Interrupted

> Fire Hazards at Government Buildings Difficult to Monitor

> Police Check CCTV, Public Awaits Result

Why do incidents like this keep repeating to the point that they are eventually called a “classic” incident? Looking at the record of fire incidents from 2020 to October 2021, the data shows a strong correlation between dense settlements and fire incidents.

On the other hand, congestion also makes it difficult to extinguish fires.

Residential density is the main trigger of fire hazards. Dense settlements with irregular housing arrangements as well as poor-quality housing accelerate the spread of fire. On the other hand, congestion also makes it difficult to extinguish fires.

From the data on the number of fires and buildings per Jakarta subdistrict, it was found that the more dense the settlement, the more frequent the fire incidents. With a correlation value of 0.51, which indicates moderate correlation, fires are more common in the densely populated areas of Jakarta.

Looking at the data provided by the open-source OpenStreetMap project on building number, the number of fire incidents appears to increase with the increasing number of buildings per subdistrict.

The 10 subdistricts with the highest number of fires (average incidence) had an average of 17,836 buildings. On the other hand, the 10 less dense subdistricts (averaging 687 buildings per subdistrict), experienced just two fire incidents on average.

Dinas Pemadaman dan Penyelamatan DKI Jakarta

Smoke rises from a burning PLN electricity substation on Jalan Gili Sampang, Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, Monday (7/10/2021).

According to the head of neighborhood unit (RT) 002/RW 008 in Kalibaru, Abdul Manan (40), fires have been a commonplace occurrence in the area for decades. In addition to being dense, the settlement is also a hub for processing wood. This is a special factor of fires in Kalibaru. "Since I was a child, I have been a regular [at fires], it has become my daily experience," said Abdul.

Hard to see the sun

Satori, the head of RT 005/RW 010 in West Pademangan, said the same thing. The narrow alleys make access difficult for fire trucks. In fact, the neighborhood is located just 500 meters from the West Pademangan Fire Station.

Most of them are two-storey houses with the ground floor built using permanent building materials, while the upper floor uses wood.

Satori’s neighborhood is one of the densest settlements in West Pademangan. The houses there average 2.5-3 meters wide. Most of them are two-storey houses with the ground floor built using permanent building materials, while the upper floor uses wood.

Facing houses are separated by a 1.5 m-wide footpath. At times, the roofs of opposing houses touch each other. This is what makes the flames spread quickly in all directions during a fire.

Kalibaru and West Pademangan are the two subdistricts in Jakarta that experienced the third largest number of fires, recording 11 incidents during 2020-2021.

With 56 houses per hectare in West Pademangan and 42 houses per ha in Kalibaru, the two subdistricts can also be classified as dense settlements because they have a building density of above 40 buildings per ha.

The heads of the subdistrict fire stations both agreed that the densely packed settlements and narrow streets in the two subdistricts areas were the main obstacles to fire prevention.

“The houses [...] are semi-permanent and connected to each other without any breaks. In fact, it is so dense that it is hard to see the sun. West Pademangan is a red zone in terms of fire hazards," Agus Subiantoro, the head of Team A at West Pademangan Fire Station, said on Monday (15/11/2021).

Early intervention

Given these conditions, Agus said, the only proper approach for dense settlements is prevention and intervention before a fire spread.

This is done by raising the residents’ awareness. Through a joint program with the community, firefighters have established a communication forum that involves the RT/RW heads, youth organizations, officers from the Public Facilities and Maintenance Agency (PPSU) and the Family Welfare Movement (PKK), a women’s community organization. Once a month, the firefighters contact the residents.

According to Agus, the communities are expected to be able to report fires more quickly through the communication forum’s WhatsApp group, so fires can be managed before they spread.

In addition, their proximity to firefighters also allows the communities to be more aware, so they do not interfere with firefighting.

"If they know us, right, they will respect us. In addition, we are also closer to the community so that when a fire occurs, the community can help the firefighters, not disrupt them,” said Agus.

Satori admits that the fire a year ago became serious because of a delay among the residents in reporting it.

Intensive communication with firefighters also allow the residents to report any fire incidents more quickly. Satori admits that the fire a year ago became serious because of a delay among the residents in reporting it.

"The fire spread quickly and no one noticed," he said.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Employees queue to re-enter after the fire at the Cyber Building in the Mampang Prapatan area, South Jakarta, Thursday (2/12/2021).

According to Team B head Eko Darmaji at Kalibaru Fire Station, training and providing light fire extinguishers, or APARs, were also appropriate approaches to prevent fires in dense settlements.

However, Eko said that a fire extinguisher refilling program was also a necessary follow-up to providing portable extinguishers to residents. This was because the residents would not refill their fire extinguishers after they were empty or had expired.

“The APARs, after the community used them, were not refilled, and were instead given back to us. In the end, many were abandoned,” he added.

In addition to the physical conditions in dense settlements, the behavior of their residents show no awareness of fire prevention.

Endrawati Fatimah, an urban and regional planning lecturer at Trisakti University, agreed that in areas with a high risk of fire, such as dense residential settlements, increasing community capacity could reduce the dangers of fire.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Fire trucks are on Jalan Gajah Mada to extinguish a fire at the Thermindo shophouse in Taman Sari, West Jakarta, Tuesday (14/9/2021).

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s General Disaster Risk Assessment Guidelines also notes that high vulnerability and low human capacity elevated the risk of disaster.

"If the hazard is high, but community capacity is [also] high, the risk will be small," said Endrawati. (PUT/XNA/SPW)

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko)