A massive fire engulfed East Jakarta’s Gembrong Market yesterday evening, burning down hundreds of buildings and homes within the area and causing an estimated loss of more than IDR1.5 billion (US$103,725).
East Jakarta’s Fire and Rescue Service’s head of operations Gatot Sulaeman said that the fire was suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit at a residential building, with reports from residents that flames started to emerge at around 9pm.
Fourteen fire trucks were initially deployed to put out the fire.
“The [blaze caused by] short circuit was started from Mrs Rawinah’s house on the second floor. The owner of the house shouted that there was a fire and the residents tried to extinguish it,” Gatot told the reporters today.
“But the fire quickly grew and spread to the surrounding area because the buildings there were made of wood.”
The scale of the blaze can be seen in these video below:
Kebakaran di Pasar Gembrong, Jaktim Malam ini pic.twitter.com/gZKn9hqpvl
— TXT DARI JAKARTA (@txtdrjkt) April 24, 2022
Terjadi kebakaran pd bangunan rumah dan kios pkl. 21.06 di Jl. Jenderal Basuki Rahmat No. 8 RW 10 (titik kenal Pasar Gembrong) Kel. Cipinang Besar Utara, Kec. Jatinegara Jaktim. Pengerahan saat ini 14 unit. Dalam penanganan petugas (24/4) #JAKI #infokebakaran pic.twitter.com/GzR2a5vo2C
— Pemadam DKI Jakarta (@humasjakfire) April 24, 2022
Firefighters managed to localize the fire at around 11pm, and only declared that the fire was extinguished at around 1am before conducting a cooling process. In the end, at least 130 personnel and 27 fire trucks were deployed at the scene to put out the fire.
Gatot said that the fire destroyed some 400 buildings, consisting of homes and shops in five neighborhood units (RT), affecting around 450 households or 1,000 people. The financial loss incurred by the incident was estimated to be at IDR1.5 billion.
There were no reported casualties from the fire.
Located at Jendral Basuki Rahmat Street in Jatinegara district, Gembrong Market was a traditional market before it transformed into a popular toy market in the late ‘90s.
Contrary to the figures provided by the fire department, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said that around 200 households were affected by the fire. Anies also said that displaced residents are being housed in temporary shelters, where they will receive basic needs such as clothing and food.
