It is Not Easy to Overcome Fires in Jakarta

KOMPAS/KURNIA YUNITA RAHAYU

Officers sprayed water at the fire site on Jalan Cakung Cilincing, RT 009 RW 03, East Cakung Village, Cakung District, East Jakarta, Thursday (26/7/2018).

The distribution of fire stations in Jakarta is uneven. At least 268 community units (RWs) in Jakarta are out of the reach of the fire station, meaning longer fire response times.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Based on data on the location of fire stations and fire incidents in Jakarta during 2020-2021, the fire stations in the capital are still unevenly distributed. This causes long response times. The longer the response time, the greater the loss caused by the fire.

The problem of fires in Jakarta has become more complex because many pockets of dense settlements cannot be reached by fire trucks and have minimal sources of water and extinguishing facilities, in addition to hundreds of non-functioning hydrants. Jakarta continues to be threatened with fire.

Also read:

> Fires in Jakarta a Classic Problem

> Two Dead Service Interrupted

> Fire Hazards at Government Buildings Difficult to Monitor

> Police Check CCTV, Public Awaits Result

From November to early December 2021, a team from Kompas assessed data on fire incidents during 2020-2021, the distribution of fire stations, hydrant locations, building parcel maps, RW administrative maps and the road network, as well as rivers, streams and beaches in the city. Using network analysis, it found many locations in Jakarta cannot be reached by firefighters.

Based on the decree of the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry (PUPR) No. 11 of 2000, each building must be within a 2.5 kilometer distance, not a straight line, from the nearest fire station.

However, the data showed that up to 2021, as many as 268, or 9.6 percent of RWs in Jakarta were found outside the 2.5-km distance from the nearest fire station. Most of these RWs (84) were located in East Jakarta.

The subdistrict with the least area covered by the fire service was Ujung Menteng in East Jakarta. Only one out of 10 RW in the subdistrict was within the fire service coverage. Yet an assessment by the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) in 2020 found that Ujung Menteng was a fire-prone area.

The uneven distribution of fire stations can be seen from the disparity in the increase of service coverage compared with the increase in the number of fire stations. Over the last seven years, the number of the fire stations has grown by 62 stations, or an increase of 65 percent, from 95 stations in 2014 to 157 stations in 2021. However, the rise in the number of the fire stations has not resulted in an increase in service coverage, which rose only 9.2 percent.

KOMPAS/ERIKA KURNIA

Workers crowd around Cyber 1 Building, Kuningan Barat, Mampang, South Jakarta, after a fire in the building Thursday (2/12/2021).

The unequal distribution of fire stations has caused long response times and an increase in loss potential. The average response time to fire incidents during 2020-2021 was nine minutes 37 seconds. This figure is still below the standard of 15 minutes set by the PUPR Ministry. The response time is usually measured from the time a call is received by the fire station to the arrival of the first apparatus at the scene. If an area is located outside the 2.5-km distance from the fire station, the response time will be longer and the losses will be greater. The uneven location of the fire stations makes the fire handling more difficult because the fire department has to wait for help from other fire stations.

Big loss

Looking at the fire data in Jakarta, the average estimated loss from fire for 2020-2021 is Rp 211.31 million (US$15,000). The loss rate increases more than five times (Rp 1.09 billion) for fire incidents whose response time exceeds the average of nine minutes 37 seconds, although losses are also influenced by other factors, such as what objects are burning.

The longer the response time and the duration of the operation, the more people will be affected.

Using data on operation duration and response time compared with the number of affected communities, it was found that there was a strong correlation between the duration of the operation and long response times with the number of affected communities (with a correlation value of 0.66). The longer the response time and the duration of the operation, the more people will be affected.

In Jakarta, the threat of fire is also affected by the density of settlements. The higher the number buildings in a given area, the higher the number of potential fires. As many as 10 subdistricts with the highest number of building plots (with more than 15,000) had an average of nine fires during the 2020-2021 period. On the other hand, the 10 subdistricts with the least number of plots (less than 1,000) only had an average of two fire incidents.

Fighting fires in densely populated areas of Jakarta is further complicated by the narrowness of the roads. Based on the OpenStreetMap road network, every subdistrict in Jakarta has an average of 18.6 percent of roads that are classified as narrow and cannot be passed by fire trucks. Without adequate roads, it is difficult for firefighters to serve properly.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

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

For example, in Cempaka Putih Barat Village, Cempaka Putih district, Central Jakarta, 38 percent of the roads in the area are narrow. During 2020-2021 there were 14 fires with a total loss of Rp 24 billion. Yet the Cempaka Putih district, which consists of three subdistricts, actually has two fire stations.

On the other hand, if the roads are wide, the fire response will be faster. The Kebayoran Baru fire station, for example, can cover more than three subdistricts. This fire station is the busiest station in Jakarta, but the response time is relatively fast at seven minutes because the areas covered mostly have wide roads.

According to officers in the field, rivers, ditches and ponds have become more reliable sources of water.

Fighting fires in Jakarta is also complicated by the lack of available water sources. Based on data from the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service, only about a third, or 421 hydrants, of the existing 1,213 hydrants throughout the city function well. This means they have water, a hose coupling and a meter. According to officers in the field, rivers, ditches and ponds have become more reliable sources of water.

Land constraints

The head of the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service, Satriadi Gunawan, acknowledged that the fire stations in the capital were not evenly distributed. Availability of land and personnel to man the fire stations had also become a major constraint. "We have 4,329 personnel. Ideally, if we want to cover all of the existing 257 subdistricts, we need about 11,000 personnel, ” said Satriadi.

The ratio of fire personnel to the population of Jakarta is also still lower than in other major cities in the world. With a ratio of 2,962 residents per one firefighter, Jakarta is still inferior to Kuala Lumpur (1,594 : 1), Bangkok (1,029 : 1), New York City (774 : 1) and Tokyo (336 : 1).

As stipulated in Jakarta Regional Regulation No. 8/2008, every subdistrict should have a least one fire station, while at the district level, there should be a fire department office. However, out of 267 subdistricts, only 143 subdistricts have fire stations. Meanwhile, out of 44 districts in Jakarta, only 29 districts have fire department offices.

The worst conditions are faced in South Jakarta and East Jakarta because on average each fire station has to cover two subdistricts.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Residents pick up leftover belongings after a fire destroyed a densely populated village in South Duri, Tambora, West Jakarta, Wednesday (12/8/2020).

Lecturer from the Urban and Regional Planning Study Program at Trisakti University, Endrawati Fatimah, said based on the Indonesian National Standard for Housing and Urban Planning, each subdistrict and district must provide 200 square and 1,000 square meters of land, respectively, for fire stations. According to her, large property developers can be required to provide part of the land needed for the establishment of fire stations. (PUT/XNA/SPW)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).