JAKARTA INDONESIA FIRE DEPARTMENT
Jakarta is the capitol city of Indonesia. The city has a poulation of approximately 10 million people in a 661 square kilometer/300 square mile area. The city is undergoing a major building program and several highrises of approximately 50 stories in height now grace the city"s skyline.
The Jakarta Fire Department (Dinas Kebakaran Jakarta in the native Java language) is divided into 6 divisions - Central with 19 stations, North with 16 stations, West with 9 stations, South with 14 stations, East with 21 stations, and a Combat Ready Unit at Headquarters. Approximately 7 firefighters are on duty at each fire station on each shift. Firefighters work 78 hours per week.
Fire apparatus used by the Jakarta FD is as follows - 44 Isuzu 4000l pumpers, 58 Mercedes 4000l pumpers, 7 Dino/Hino diesel 3500l pumpers, 5 Toyota Dyna diesel 1500l pumpers, 3 dry chemical rigs, 2 foam rigs, 4 squirts, 3 snorkels, 4 rescues, 6 aerials with 50 meter ladders, 1 17 meter aerial, 2 37 meter aerials, 1 mobile kitchen, 1 mobile command post, 1 high pressure rig, 1 smoke ejector rig, and 7 ambulances.
The initial dispatch (first response/first alarm) to a building fire, which is called a "first-phase", is comprised of - 4 pumpers, 1 rescue, 1 ladder, and 1 ambulance. Emergency telephone numbers for Jakarta are - Fire 113 - Police 110 - Ambulance 118.
The Combat Ready unit, which is based at HQ, has 25 firefighters on each shift who operate 3 pumpers, 1 foam rig, 1 squirt, 1 snorkel, 1 aerial ladder, and 1 ambulance.
This information has been supplied by the Jakarta Fire Department. Typed up by Peter Szerlag 7 July 1998. The URL for this item is www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3327/ jakartafd.html
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March 3 , 1999 - Info From News Media Sources
News item - On May 15,1998 rioters broke into several shopping malls in Jakarta. Fires broke out in the afternoon. No rescue forces were on the scene until late in the evening. Reports say that possibly 250 or 500 people died in the fires. There were ?220 bodies removed from the Yogya Shopping Center in East Jakarta. 50 to 100 people died at a fire in Tangerang. Ciledug Plaza in West Jakarta also burnt. There ws possibly another multi-fatality fire at Klender. (info taken from various news reports)
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January 25, 1999 - The Jakarta Post - A West Jakarta fire burnt 76 homes and left 206 people homeless. The 6:30 AM blaze was handled by 14 rigs in 2 hours.
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December 31, 1998 - The Jakarta Post - 1998 Jakarta Annual Fire Report - 789 fires - 75 fire deaths - 28,918 homeless - Rp 104.7 Billion in fire damages - (damages and deaths from the 1998 riots are listed below) - fire causes : 390 electrical shorts + 294 unknown cause + 74 stove explosions + 44 cigarettes + 5 kerosene lamps.
Most fires occurred at night - 5856 homes were damaged or destroyed - 142 shopping complexes burnt - 62 factory/office complexes had fires - 46 vehicle fires - 78 public facility fires.
The fire breakdown by district was : 146 West / 139 East / 136 North / 136 South / 115 Central.
Approximately 60% of 800 (?commercial) buildings do not meet the fire standards set by the fire department. Since all building owners purchase fire insurance, and since there is only a Rp 5450,000 / $10.81 (ten dollars and 81 cents) fine for not meeting the fire code, the fire department is very concerned about the potential for future disasters.
The phone numbers for the fire (?prevention) office are 344-1309 and 344-7507.
The May riots caused over 1,000 deaths: 6,000 buildings were destroyed; losses were RP2.5 Trillion. More unrest resulting in further fire losses occurred on November 13 and November 22.
In 1997, Jakarta fire losses were - 1175 fires - 40 fire deaths (including 1 firefighter) - Rp 101.65 Billion in monetary losses
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August 28, 1998 - The Jakarta Post - A North Jakarta fire burnt 682 homes and 1 mosque leaving 4,000 people homeless. It took the FD 2 hours to bring the fire under control even though people in the crowd were fighting with firefighters to prevent them from doing their job. "Let it burn so we can all suffer together" was heard from a bystander.
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August 22, 1998 - The Jakarta Post - yesterday in the Central Jakarta district, a fire in a slum area destroyed 60 semipermanent homes and left 487 people homeless - it took 23 rigs two hours to control the blaze per Operations and Control Chief Idrus Padei - narrow streets and some plywood construction materials contributed to the losses.
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May 13, 1998 - per the Jakarta Post - A fire in a 3 story shop/house in North Jakarta left 12 people dead. Three FD units responded to the 5 AM blaze. The doors to the structure had been locked from the outside by the shop supervisors leaving no means of egress for the occupants who were trapped on the upper floors.
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April 16, 1998 - The Jakarta Post - 140 homes were burnt and 1,500 people were homeless after a West Jakarta fire per West Jakarta Chief Syamsir Maknar
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January 28, 1998 - per The Jakarta Post - On Monday night, in a pouring rain, 60 homes were destroyed in a Central Jakarta blaze. 350 people were left homeless and firefighters had to fight with crowds at various times. 20 rigs (including 4 from the N Jakarta FD) responded to the fire per Ferding Aling who is the Central Jakarta Fire Chief.
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January 28, 1998 - in The Jakarta Times - Jakarta suffered 1,215 fires and 38 fire deaths in 1997. During the Idul Fitri celebrations in January, when many people go outside the city to celebrate, the Jakarta FD had 2,553 firefighters on duty at 80 posts. All citizens were reminded to secure all electrical appliances before going on vacation and to report any fires quickly. The FD opened a hotline at 021-113 and each mayoralty has a home base - Central 021-384-1216 / West 021-568-2284 / South 021-769-4519 / East 021-858-2150 / North 021-493-045
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January 26, 1998 - East Jakarta warehouse fire takes 11 rigs with 65 firefighters to control - access and water supplies are plentiful but major losses are suffered.
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December 24, 1997 - The Jakarta Post - During July of 1997, 155 people died in motor vehicle accidents in Jakarta. In August of 1997, that total was 166 killed. The police report that most deaths occurr due to people speeding on the tollways. ALSO - 1,186 fires so far in 1997 in Jakarta - the previous record was 1,082 fires in 1982.
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December 9, 1997 - per the Jakarta Post - 15 people died in a blaze at the 25 story Bank of Indonesia Building. The building had been under construction since late 1996 and office workers had just moved in three months previous.
It is believed that welders on the 23rd floor started the fire which burnt out floors 22, 23, 24, and 25. The FD responded at 930AM. A total of 22 rigs with 145 firefighters were used at the scene. By 12:17 PM thirty firefighters reached the 22nd floor and began interior firefighting operations. Two air conditioning units exploded at 130PM. By 2PM, the fire was under control. Four people had been removed from the roof top helicopter pad by a police helicopter and 10 buckets of water had been dropped on the building by a firefighting helo.
Fire victims were found on floors 23 and 24 - 9 had suffocated in elevators. The floors that were involved held the bank's executive offices and possibly the records of 16 failed banks.
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November 24, 1997 - per The Jakarta Post - Fire damaged three floors of a 12 story building at the Ministry of Finance Complex. The FD was notified at 10:55 AM and responded with 17 rigs. The blaze was under control at 11:24 AM. The suspected cause was a welder doing an elevator/lift repair on the 6th floor. Fire damage occurred on floors 6, 7, and 8. At the time the blaze broke out, one thousand people were attending a medal/award ceremony on the seventh floor. No damage occurred to the Ministry's data bank which was located on the 4th floor.
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November 20, 1997 - A hotel fire near the Tanah Anah sub police station in Central Jakarta spread to and destroyed 11 homes. Central FD Chief Freddy Aling reported that 17 rigs reported to the 110PM fire but only 6 rigs could fit on the narrow street.
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October 3, 1997 - from the Jakarta Post - Johnny Pangaribum is the head of the FD public participation division - the city FD has 2,601 firefighters, 158 rigs, and 559 hydrants - Fire Chief Suharso says that 13,000 hydrants are needed).
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September 3, 1997 - 200 homes burn in West Jakarta - the 1220PM fire was fought by 22 fire crews per Chief A Bachri.
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August 19, 1997 - A Kodak warehouse in Sunter in North Jakarta that stored photographic chemicals burnt in a 1115 AM fire. Seven rigs had the fire controlled in one hour and damages were RP 100 million / US $37 Million.
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Summer 2000 - A bomb exploded at the Jakarta Stock Exchange in a underground motor vehicle parking area. Approximately 20 people were killed. AP photos showed firefighters with SCBA and bunker gear. There was also a photo of a firefighter in a khaki uniform.
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Updated - 22 October 2000