‘We’re Fighting The Fire and They’re Pelting Stones at Us’

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Being a firefighter in Jakarta is a unique challenge. While rushing into a burning building can be daunting, perhaps the biggest battle facing the capital’s fire brigade is getting through the traffic.

Fire squad leader Subiyanto is well aware of the difficulties. With up to 2,000 fire calls in the city each year, the 46-year-old has seen it all, from house fires caused by short circuits to blazes that have been intentionally set as part of land disputes.

Today, Subiyanto tells My Jakarta all about the city’s fire hydrant problems, the problems with river water and the secret of the fire truck that you see in all the TV commercials.

We’ve all seen TV shows where firefighters slide down the fireman’s pole during a call? Do you really do that?

Of course. At the station the poles are located outside the barracks, so whenever there’s an emergency call, we suit up, slide down and go straight to the fire engines.

What made you become a fireman?

At first, I wanted to be a civil servant, especially in the military or the police. But I failed the test twice. Then I applied to the fire department, and here I am 20 years later. I now find my life to be quite nice. I have a challenging job that I like and the pay is good enough to live a decent life and pay for my children’s education.

Any near-death experiences during your 20-year career?

Thank God, no, but I’ve seen several of my colleagues die due to what firefighters fear the most, collapsing structures. I did have an unforgettable personal experience of getting lost in the smoke. I was considered missing in action and my field commander frantically sent a search party for me.

But I was OK [laughs]. You see, whenever a team is sent inside a burning structure, all the firefighters are connected to a cable so we can follow it back and get out through the same entry point, just like Hansel and Gretel used bread crumbs to mark their path. What happened was that I became disoriented in all the smoke and actually got out of the building through a different exit point. Moments later, I realized my mistake and went back into the building and followed my cable to the initial entry point. My commander was relieved and angry at the same time since he had already sent a search team for me [laughs].

How much water is in a fire engine tank, and how long can you use it before it’s empty?

It depends on the water pressure used. Medium tanks with 4,000 liters last for three to four minutes if we use average pressure, even less if we add more hoses. Bigger tanks can hold up to 10,000 liters, though.

Is all that water clean?

Yes, every time we’re done we clean the tank and immediately fill it up with clean tap water. So all the fire engines you see in every fire station are all filled and ready for action. But if we run out of water fighting a fire, unfortunately we then have to use the water from Jakarta’s dirty rivers to fill the tank. That’s why we always wash the tank out after every job.

What about hydrants, are there enough in Jakarta?

Actually there are enough in terms of numbers. The problem is that most of them aren’t functioning or have had their nozzle heads [the part where the hydrant connects with the hose] stolen, so we can’t use them. The nozzle heads are made of brass so they can fetch a pretty good price if you have enough of them.

What about the response time, considering Jakarta’s traffic?

The TransJakarta lanes are a blessing. They greatly improve our response time, but ideally, like if the call is at night, we’ll be there in around five minutes.

Are there ever any conflicts or fights between firefighters and security personnel who are deployed to secure the perimeter around the scene of the fire?

There was this one case years ago in Kelapa Gading [North Jakarta] where me and some firefighters were suspicious that the fire had been intentionally set. The fire spots were surprisingly equally distributed and all the neighbors were pelting rocks at the fire engines, breaking the windshields, and we’re still trying to contain the fire. And the police didn’t do anything to stop them. I was so mad at them. That area in Kelapa Gading was eventually turned into a mall.

We heard there’s a specific fire engine that is often used for TV commercials.

Yes, one of the fire engines is equipped with this huge fan that produces a very strong wind. We usually use it to blow the smoke away to clear an entry point into a burning structure for firefighters. But the engine is sometimes used to create a wind effect when they are shooting a TV commercial [laughs].

Subiyanto was talking to Antonny Saputra.

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