Fire Destroys Dozens of Homes in Bogor on Christmas Day
Jakarta. The Disaster Management Agency, or BPBD, in Bogor, West Java, announced a weeklong emergency period on Christmas Day after a huge fire broke out in Kampung Gudang, a densely populated hamlet in the area, destroying dozens of homes and forcing hundreds of residents to be evacuated.
The agency said 271 people who occupied 50 homes in the area were displaced by the fire.
"We've declared a disaster emergency for up to a week from now," BPBD emergency logistics head Budi Hendrawan said on Monday (25/12), as quoted by BeritaSatu.com.
Budi said 34 of the 76 affected families are currently housed in a temporary shelter at a local school, with the rest prefer to stay with relatives or neighbors.
Of the hundreds of residents now temporarily without a home, 59 are children.
"The number of people affected by the fire can still increase. We're still collecting data," Budi said.
The local administration has provided tarpaulins, mattresses, mats, blankets and food at the shelters.
The police said they suspect the original fire was caused by a hot iron left unattended in one of the homes in the kampung.
Firefighters had trouble reaching the scene of the fire since the kampung has many narrow alleyways. It took them more than two hours to extinguish the fire, which by then had spread to most of the area.
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