Terra Drone Fire Kills 22 People, Building Safety Standards In Jakarta Questioned

The fire that killed 22 people at the Terra Drone building, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, made the safety standards for buildings in the capital city again highlighted. Apparently, supervision of the function of buildings and compliance with technical regulations still have loopholes.

Urban planning observer Yayat Supriyatna questioned whether the buildings experiencing fires in Jakarta, including the Terra Drone, had undergone inspection of building imposition certificates (SLF) and met building safety standards or not.

"The question is, has the certification proper for that function been carried out or not in buildings that experienced fires?" Yayat told reporters, Wednesday, December 10.

In addition to the matter of building feasibility, Yayat highlighted the potential for deviation of space functions in the Terra Drone building. He called mixing the office function with an easy-to-burn storage area as a risk that the building's operational manager often ignores.

"The function of building is actually for office or storage of flammable tools or materials? This is also a bit sensitive because it is nothing because every building that mixes between storage functions and office functions needs to be considered," he said.

Supposedly, according to Yayat, the implementation of the SLF should ensure the function of the space according to the registered designation, including area separation if there is sensitive material such as lithium batteries used on drones.

"So what? The proper certification of the function really applies that function to the office or that function for storage, for example equipment or warehouses. Especially if it is related to materials that are very sensitive and flammable as the battery of a drone, namely the type of lithium battery," he said.

Furthermore, Yayat emphasized that the incident should encourage a thorough evaluation of building compliance with safety rules, including the SLF required by the government.

He emphasized that the SLF is not just a formality, but an important instrument to ensure that the detection and extinguishing system works optimally and evacuation routes are available and safe.

"First, to quickly detect and extinguish fires and then ensure safe evacuation for residents, secondly reducing the risk of fire spread and damage," he said.

The fire incident at the building on Jalan Letjend Suprapto Iru occurred on Tuesday, December 9 at 12:43 WIB. The death toll from the fire at the drone sales building was 22 people. The victims consisted of 15 women and 7 men.

BPBD noted that 76 employees were in the Terra Drone Indonesia building. In the fire incident that occurred, 54 people were rescued and are now undergoing treatment.

Meanwhile, the cause of the Terra Drone fire is thought to have been caused by a malfunction or drone battery explosion.