Palembang, KOTABARI.COM – A massive fire broke out in the Jalan Hamzah Kuncit area, RT 05 RW 01, Kelurahan Tuan Kentang, Kecamatan Jakabaring, Palembang, completely burning down two houses and two semi-permanent wooden huts at around 09.30 AM.
According to information gathered from Sripoku.com, the fire is suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit in Jaka’s house. Rahmat Hidayat, a witness who first saw the smoke, recounted the incident. “I was working as a construction worker next to Jaka’s house when I suddenly saw smoke coming from the top of Jaka’s house,” Rahmat explained.
Seeing thick smoke accompanied by flames, Rahmat immediately shouted, “Fire, fire, fire,” prompting residents to rush out of their homes. “Due to the strong winds and many wooden houses, the fire quickly spread to other houses and grew larger,” he continued.
Despite residents’ efforts to extinguish the flames, the fire quickly spread to Darmawan’s house and two huts occupied by Tina and Syafei. “Residents tried hard to put out the fire, but it spread to Darmawan’s house and two semi-permanent huts,” Rahmat added.
The fire was finally extinguished after PBK personnel and four fire trucks arrived at the scene around 10.49 AM. One of the victims, Tina, admitted that no valuable items could be saved from the fire. “Only the clothes on my back could be saved. We hope for government assistance to help ease our burden,” she said.
Kapolsek SU I Palembang, Commissioner Alex, confirmed the fire incident. “As a result of the fire, two houses and two huts at the scene were completely burned,” he said. He also confirmed that there were no casualties in the incident. “So far, the fire is suspected to have originated from an electrical short circuit in Jaka’s house. However, further investigation is still being conducted by the South Sumatra Police Forensic Laboratory (Labfor),” Alex concluded, stating that the location has been secured with police lines.