Allegedly Electric Short Circuit, 15 Residents' Houses In Gayo Lues Aceh Burned, No Casualties

Video screenshot of the fire in a resident's house in Telege Durin Hamlet, Pasir Village, Tripe Jaya District, Gayo Lues/ANTARA

ACEH - A total of 15 housing units in Gayo Lues Regency, Aceh Province were burned to the ground on Monday, August 22 afternoon.

BPBA Chief Executive Ilyas said the fire occurred at around 11.05 WIB in Telege Durin Hamlet, Pasir Village, Tripe Jaya District, Gayo Lues. The cause of the fire is believed to be an electrical short circuit.

"The chronology of the incident is still suspected to be caused by an electric short circuit," said Ilyas in Banda Aceh, quoted from Antara.

Ilyas explained that when they received information on the fire, Gayo Lues BPBD officers and the Fire Department (Damkar) immediately went to the scene to extinguish the fire.

Firefighters were assisted by the local community as they struggled to extinguish the fire. According to him, the fire that burned the houses of residents in the highlands was only successfully extinguished around 12:45 WIB.

There were no reports of casualties in this incident. However, as many as 15 villagers had to flee to refugee camps because their houses burned down.

"The latest information received is that the fire has been extinguished and is in the cooling process," he said.

Gayo Lues is one of the regencies out of a total of 23 regencies/cities in the province nicknamed Tanah Rencong. The distance of Gayo Lues from Banda Aceh City is 451.7 kilometers, with a travel time of overland using a motorized vehicle between 10-12 hours.