Electricity Short Circuit, Coconut Warehouse in Kendari City Burns Dozens of Other Buildings

Kendari - The Kendari City Fire Department (Damkar) deployed seven cars to put out 14 buildings in the form of warehouses and rented houses that were on fire in Sanua Village, West Kendari District, Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra).

The head of the Kendari City Damkar Office, Ahriawandy, when met in Kendari, Saturday, January 17, 2026, evening, said that the fire incident of 14 buildings occurred at around 21.45 Wita.

"We deployed seven fire trucks to put out the fire of 14 buildings," said Ahriawandy, ANTARA, Sunday, January 18, 226.

According to him, in addition to the seven fire trucks, the fire extinguishing also involved 13 tanker cars which became partners of the Damkar Service when the fire incident occurred with disaster volunteers.

Ahriawandy said that 14 buildings were on fire, consisting of one kiosk, three restaurants, a rented house, and a warehouse for storing agricultural products such as mete and copra.

"The temporary cause is due to a short circuit or short circuit," he said.

Ahriawandy explained that the initial suspicion of the fire originated from one warehouse then it grew and burned other buildings including kiosks and rented houses.

According to him, all the buildings were abandoned by their owners, while the warehouse that was the source of the fire was allegedly guarded by one resident so that it was confirmed that there were no victims in the incident.

"The loss is estimated at around Rp5 billion because there are warehouses that do store agricultural products to be sent to other areas," he said.

The fire took an hour to extinguish because the building materials were partly made of boards and there were agricultural products such as mete in the warehouse.

In addition, the large number of residents who witnessed the fire at the scene also made it difficult for the Damkar car to reach the fire point.

Meanwhile, residents around Asna (23) said that the source of the fire was from one of the buildings at the very end. Then the fire continued to grow and burn other buildings.

"The building there does have a place to store agricultural products, but maybe because of the strong wind it also quickly grew the fire," said Asna.