Anticipating Drought Season Fires, DKI Damkar Evaluates Vulnerable Points in Jakarta 

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) has again mapped the areas that are potentially prone to fires, especially during the dry season. The evaluation was carried out following a number of fire incidents, including a fire in a pile of garbage that is prone to occur due to dry conditions.

Head of the DKI Jakarta Gulkarmat Office Bayu Meghantara said his party would optimize the role of the task force at the sub-district level to identify locations that have the potential to trigger fires.

"We have a task force structure at the village level. Later we will re-evaluate the existence of locations that can cause fires, roughly like that. And God willing, this will continue to be carried out with the ranks in the region," Bayu told reporters, Tuesday, August 4.

In addition to mapping vulnerable locations, the DKI Gulkarmat also encourages prevention through education and training for residents and volunteers. This effort is carried out so that the community is able to carry out initial handling before the fire gets bigger and requires handling by fire fighters.

"Mitigation, then education, yes through prevention it will be better. We have emphasized several times also the training related to also with volunteer partners that we continue to build so that we can work together with the community, yes at least we can mitigate," said Bayu.

"Because for us the principle of a small fire is easy to extinguish. If it is big, we are the ones who can put it out," he said.

Bayu said that every region in Jakarta has a different level of vulnerability, especially areas with high population density. The characteristics of settlements and environmental conditions are one of the factors that affect the potential for fires.

"Every region has its own characteristics, lah," he said.

On the other hand, DKI Gulkarmat will also evaluate the pattern of assigning officers who have certain health conditions. The evaluation is carried out following the death of a damkar member, Andriyono, while on duty extinguishing a fire during a fire at a pile of illegal garbage in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

Bayu gave an example of the assignment of officers who have a history of heart disease. The officer was not placed in a position that was directly in contact with the source of fire, but carried out monitoring functions around the fire unit.

"For example, Mr. Andriyono who was already mapped. So of course the assignment is a simple assignment. It's not too dangerous just to monitor the adequacy (equipment), bring HT, (coordinating) how the beam in front (fire point)," he explained.

To strengthen prevention at the residential level, DKI Gulkarmat also continued the program to provide light fire extinguishers (APAR) in the RT environment. The one RT one APAR program is still running gradually by adjusting the level of regional needs.

Bayu said the number of APARs that are currently available in the community has reached thousands of units, but his party is still rechecking the total number and coverage of the program.

"Maybe around 19,000-an already exist, but later we will try to check again regarding the total number of it. Because every year it must be organized," he concluded.