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The humble, unassuming rice cooker may seem like the least dangerous appliance in the kitchen, but like anything electrical, its malfunction can lead to potentially deadly consequences.
A house in the Perumahan Tanjung Barat Indah neighborhood of Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, caught on fire today at about 11:30am after the house’s rice cooker started to short circuit, sending sparks out that ignited a nearby gas stove, leading to an explosion.
The residents of the house had left the rice cooker on after they left the house but before it had started to short circuit.
The head of the South Jakarta Fire and Rescue Department, Edi Sucipto, said it had to deploy five fire brigades to put out the flames and prevent them from spreading to other houses. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Edi said that because Jakarta was currently at the height of the dry season, people need to be especially careful about fire safety.
“We appeal to the public to be careful. The potential for fires during the dry season is high. The hot weather allows fires to spread rapidly,” he said as quoted by Okezone.
