Fire Forces 80 Gayo Lues Residents in Aceh to Evacuate

TEMPO.CO, Banda Aceh - At least 80 residents of Gayo Lues, Aceh, were forced to evacuate after a large fire broke out in a residential area in the district on Saturday morning, according to the Aceh Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBA).

Ilyas, BPBA acting chief, said that at least 80 individuals from 22 families were affected by the fire in Kota Blangkejeren village.

"The victims have temporarily evacuated to camps (set up) in the Musara hall building," he informed in a statement released by the BPBA Data and Information Center on Saturday.

He said that local authorities were investigating the cause of the fire incident, which broke out in the residential area around 4 a.m. local time on the same day.

At least 18 houses were burned in the fire, most of them were heavily damaged, and there were no casualties.

The Gayo Lues Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) deployed seven fire trucks, battling the blaze until 6:30 a.m. before cleaning up the debris.

BPBA earlier reported on Saturday that fires in residential areas are the most common disaster in Aceh.

In 2023, of the 418 disasters recorded in the province, 149 were fire incidents, causing losses of around Rp87 billion (around US$5.5 million).

The agency asked residents to increase their vigilance against fire.

However, Ilyas said that the number of residential fires declined to 149 incidents in 2023 from 153 incidents in 2022.

ANTARA

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