Fire Burns Residents' Houses and Traditional Lamin in Long Peso, Bulungan Regency

BULUNGAN - A massive fire hit a residential area in Long Peso Village, Peso District, Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan (Kaltara).

The head of the Bulungan Police, Kombes Pol Rofikoh Yunianto, through the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Bulungan Police, Aipda Suparman, said that the incident in the interior burned down three units of residents' houses, one Lamin Adat Peso, and one unoccupied midwife's official residence.

"The fire occurred at around 17.00 Wita, with the fire first being known at around 17.10 Wita and quickly getting bigger because the building was dominated by wood materials," said Aipda Hadi, Wednesday, January 14.

He explained that the houses that were burned belonged to Jalung Usat (70) with five people in one family, Anton Elias (40) with three people, and Lamin Adat Peso. In addition, the midwife's official residence, which has not been inhabited for a long time, was also burned.

"The fire was first known to residents when they saw that the empty house around the location had been on fire. Residents then tried to save themselves and valuable items that could still be secured, while asking for help from the surrounding community to put out the fire," explained Aipda Hadi Purnomo.

In addition to the burned building, the fire also affected four other residents' houses, namely those of Novelianus, Pius, Agustin Utam, and Desi Lilin, with a total of dozens of people affected.

"Based on the witness's statement, the fire was first seen from an unoccupied house. Within a short time, the fire spread to surrounding buildings," explained Hadi.

"Then, one of the witnesses, Jalung, admitted that he felt the heat and smoke entering his house before finally seeing the fire had caught fire on the top of the building," he continued.

The extinguishing process was carried out by the people of Long Peso, Long Bia, and Muara Pangean Villages, assisted by Koramil Peso personnel and the Peso Police, using the ditch and gutter water around the location.

"The fire was successfully extinguished in the afternoon. There were no casualties in this incident. The suspected cause of the fire was a short circuit in the electricity from a house that had been unoccupied for a long time, with a wooden building so that the fire quickly spread," he said.

The police are still conducting further data collection and investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.

"There were no casualties in the incident, but the material losses were estimated to reach hundreds of millions of rupiah," he said.