Fire Razes 5 Houses In West Sumatra

Padang, W Sumatra, Jan 27 (Antara) - A fire razed five houses in the West Sumatra provincial capital of Padang at dawn on Monday, but claimed no lives. The fire broke out at 05:00 a.m. local time, when residents were about to perform their dawn prayers, Edi Asri, a spokesman from the Padang city fire department and disaster mitigation body said. The fire started in the kitchen of one of the houses in Ujung Pandan, in the West Padang sub-district of Padang city, and later spread to the nearby buildings, he added. Eyewitnesses stated that the fire had been caused by a short circuit in the power line of the kitchen. "Local residents who saw the fire tried to put it out, but it spread quickly to nearby houses in Ujung Pandan," Edi said. He further said that four fire trucks with 30 firefighters had arrived to extinguish the fire, which ravaged the houses of Alidar (53), Silis (48), Nurmantias (53), Nasaruddin (70), and Nurman Azis (53). "The firefighters found it rather difficult to reach the scene due to the narrow streets in the densely populated Ujung Pandan," Edi said. The fire was put out about an hour later and after it had destroyed five houses, he said. "The fire claimed no lives, yet it led to an estimated losses of Rp350 million," Edi pointed out. The police are investigating the cause of the fire. "They have installed a police line on the location of the fire," he said.