SEMARANG - The Semarang City Fire Service (Damkar) has decided to take legal action by reporting the perpetrators of the "prank" or prank of a false fire incident to the police.
The Secretary of the Semarang City Damkar Office, Ade Bhakti, emphasized that false reports that use emergency services for personal interests cannot be tolerated.
"We cannot accept this kind of action. Emergency services should be used for conditions that really need it, not for terror or personal interests," he said.
This firm action was taken after the perpetrator, who was suspected of being an online loan (Pinjol) debt collector (DC), did not show good faith to apologize.
The incident occurred on Thursday (23/4) afternoon which reported a fire at the Mas Adi Fried Rice stall on Jalan WR Supratman so that the damkar officers immediately deployed two fire trucks to the location.
According to him, a similar case actually occurred in 2024, but at that time the perpetrator was willing to come directly and apologize.
Unlike this incident, he said, the perpetrator did not show any responsibility even though he had been given the opportunity.
"We have opened a mediation room. The condition is that the perpetrator comes directly to clarify and apologize, but it is not done. Therefore, we decided to bring this case to the legal realm," he said.
Damkar has also reported the case to the Semarang Police, and the perpetrator is threatened with Article 220 of the Criminal Code regarding false reports to the police.
Meanwhile, the Head of Operations and Rescue of the Semarang City Damkar Office, Tantri Pradono, explained the chronology of the incident, reporting through the Damkar "call center" that there was a fire at the Mas Adi fried rice stall.
"As soon as we received the report, we immediately moved according to SOP. Two units were sent to the location. However, after checking, there was no fire," he said.
After the investigation, he said, the owner of the stall suspected that the report was the work of a loan shark or debt collector who wanted to pressure him.
"We confirmed it to the owner of the stall. He said the report was made by a loan shark 'debt collector' to scare him because of the problem of online loan debt," he said.
According to him, the nominal debt of the owner of the stall is not much, namely around Rp. 2 million which is a loan debt since 2020.
He added that his party had tried to contact the perpetrator, but the number used was not active when contacted again.
"We want there to be a deterrent effect. Don't let anyone else use emergency services for personal gain. This can be detrimental to the wider community," he said.
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