The Shophouse Engulfed in Fire, Six Residents of Tambora were Killed

Six residents died when a fire engulfed their boarding house. Three occupants of the boarding house were injured after jumping from the shophouse to the road.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS WISNU WARDHANA DANY

The shophouse that was used as a food stall and boarding house caught fire on Wednesday (17/8/2022) in South Duri Village, Tambora, West Jakarta. Six occupants of the boarding house died and three others were injured in the fire, which was suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Six residents died and three others were injured when a fire engulfed their boarding house at a shophouse in Duri Selatan Subdistrict, Tambora District, West Jakarta, on Wednesday (17/8/2022). An electrical short in one of the rooms was suspected to have triggered the fire in the four-story shophouse building, which was used as a Tegal food stall and boarding house.

Residents in the surrounding areas saw a puff of smoke and fire from the second floor of the shophouse at 06:30 a.m. They tried to put out the fire with a light fire extinguisher and woke up the occupants of the boarding house while contacting the fire brigade.

A total of 100 firefighters with 20 fire trucks arrived in stages at the location. They struggled to extinguish the fire and evacuated the victims from 06:46 a.m. to 08:33 a.m.

Three occupants of the boarding house were injured after jumping from the shophouse to the road. They were rushed to the nearest community health center. Six residents of the boarding house were known to have died after the efforts to put out the fire were over. Their bodies were then evacuated to Bhayangkara Hospital Level I Raden Said Sukanto or Polri Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta.

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Siti (33), a sidewalk trader across the gutted shophouse, saw a puff of smoke and fire from the second floor. The fire was getting bigger in a short time, creeping to the third and fourth floors. “The fire was big, creeping to the upper floors. Three occupants were jumping from the shophouse. [They got] burns and blisters,” she said.

Local residents did not know the cause of the fire in the settlement area, which consists of many shophouses. They also did not know exactly who the occupants of the boarding house were. "Many of them are boarding house occupants. We don't know each of them. It seems they are newcomers, not residents here," said Siti.

At the fire location yesterday, the first floor of the shophouse had been fitted with a police line. The building on the second to fourth floor and the place of the confection located next to the shophouse was blackened from the burning.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS WISNU WARDHANA DANY

A man crosses the road in front of a shophouse building that caught fire in Duri Selatan Village, Tambora, West Jakarta, Wednesday (17/8/2022).

Data of the victims

The owner of the boarding house rented the shophouse. The first floor was an access in and out of the occupants of the boarding house and had been used as a warteg (food stall), while the second to fourth floors were used as a boarding house with 14 rooms.

The head of Community Unit (RW) 002 Duri Selatan, Ahmad Holili, said that the owner of the boarding house found a puff of smoke from one of the empty rooms on the second floor. A light fire extinguisher was unable to overcome the blazing fire so he banged the rooms of the boarding house and contacted the firefighters.

"When efforts to extinguish the fire were completed, there was information that there were fatalities. There were five people on the third floor and another one on the fourth floor,” he said.

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At that time the owner of the boarding house was examined at the Tambora Sector Police and the data of the victims were still collected. Acquaintances or relatives of boarding house occupants arrived at the location.

Nando (27), from Palembang, South Sumatra, arrived to find out about Asri and Alek Candra, his boarding acquaintances, in the ill-fated shophouse. "I got the fire info from Instagram. I was asked by the same family to check here. We are from one village," said Nando who lives in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Nando did not know for sure whether his two acquaintances were killed in the fire. The process of identifying the victims was still ongoing at the National Police Hospital in Kramatjati. The Tambora area was once known as a fire-prone area, especially in a densely populated area.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.