October 15, 2025
JAKARTA – Jakarta is expanding its firefighting capacity with new stations and 1,000 trainees set to join the brigade next year, aiming to better protect residents in the city’s densely populated and fire-prone neighborhoods.
The latest station, inaugurated on Monday by Governor Pramono Anung, is in Kebayoran Lama Utara, South Jakarta, and brings the total to 174 stations covering 267 subdistricts.
Nestled amid more than 17,000 households, the area is considered high-risk due to closely spaced homes and limited access to water.
“With faster, more responsive and well-targeted services, residents will feel safer knowing firefighters are nearby,” Governor Pramono said.
Three more stations are slated to break ground by the end of this year, with the city targeting for at least one station per subdistrict.
The new firefighters will join the existing 4,000 personnel, though Jakarta still falls short of the estimated 11,000 needed to fully cover its 11 million residents.
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Beyond fire suppression, firefighters also respond to a wide range of emergencies, from rescuing animals to freeing people from household accidents. In 2023 alone, the agency responded to over 6,800 non-fire emergencies.
To recognize the growing demands placed on the fire brigade, the city administration in April raised firefighters’ monthly salaries by Rp 1 million (US$60.22) to Rp 6.4 million.
Tangled issues
Jakarta’s residential areas, particularly dense urban neighborhoods with exposed and tangled electricity cables, remain highly prone to fire hazards. Experts warn that the risk is especially acute where flammable and unsafe building materials are common, and cable clutter is rampant.
Early on Tuesday, a major fire in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, caused by a short circuit destroyed 20 homes and displaced dozens of families. It took 22 fire trucks and 110 personnel nearly six hours to bring the blaze under control, Antara reported.
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A larger incident in West Jakarta’s Taman Sari last month, also caused by an electrical fault, displaced at least 1,200 people and destroyed 400 homes. These fires add to the staggering 907 fire incidents recorded by the Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency in early August, most triggered by short circuits.
According to the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), around 42 percent of the 1,872 disasters recorded in 2024 were fires, with the majority sparked by electrical faults.
Deputy Governor Rano Karno has pledged to regularly monitor electrical installations in high-risk neighborhoods. He also urged residents to exercise caution when using electricity.
“Using multiple outlets to charge several devices can lead to overheating and friction,” Rano said in July, following a deadly fire in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta, that killed four children due to a short circuit.