Dozens Of Houses In Sidodadi Samarinda Burnt Out

SAMARINDA - A total of 40 houses and wards in Sidodadi Village, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, were destroyed by fire.

When the fire occurred, heavy rains were pouring down a number of areas of Samarinda City, including at the location of the fire.

The fire quickly engulfed the houses, which were mostly made of wood, precisely in densely populated settlements of Jalan Dr. Sutomo Samarinda block 4B and 4C and around 15.30 WITA, Thursday, December 21.

"After the Ashar call, I heard an announcement from the speaker at the prayer room that a fire had occurred, and asked residents to immediately save valuables," said Suyanto, one of the residents at the scene.

He was in the house spontaneously and immediately left the house, and it turned out that he saw many of his neighbors evacuating a number of household items to a longer location.

Firefighters and volunteers who got off with dozens of fire engines had difficulty getting into the location due to road access that entered the narrow alley.

Plus the crowd of residents crowding around the scene and residents who rescued a number of his valuables, hampered the officers from reaching the hotspots.

The officers took a firm stance on a number of residents to stay away from the location, making it easier for firefighters to tame the flames.

Approximately three hours or around 18.30 WITA, the fire was successfully extinguished, but residents were still prohibited from approaching the scene because the fire was hot due to the fire.

Head of the Samarinda City Fire and Rescue Service (Disdamkartan) Hendra explained that the fire occurred in four neighborhoods in Sidodadi Village, namely RT 31, 32, 33, and 40.

"We received temporary data on approximately 40 single houses and wards with a burned area of approximately 70 x 90 square meters," he said.

Hendra said the residents affected by the fire were 40 heads of families or about 150 people. In addition, there was also one resident who suffered minor injuries and four people fainted and short of breath.

Based on information from a number of residents who caused the fire due to an electrical short in one of the residents' houses due to a lightning strike, because the fire occurred during heavy rains.

However, Hendra did not want to be careless in concluding the cause of the fire incident.

"For the cause of the fire, we are still waiting for the follow-up to the police investigation," said Hendra.*