Old House in South Tapanuli Completely Destroyed by Fire, Owner: I Could Only Save Mom

TAPANULI SELATAN, KOMPAS.com - An old house on Rahmat Alley, Aek Pining, Batangtoru District, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, was completely destroyed by fire on Sunday night (20/9/2026).

The homeowner, Asman Effendi, only had time to save his mother as the flames rapidly grew and engulfed the building.

"I could only save my mom. All our possessions and valuables were left behind. Everything is gone," Asman said.

The fire broke out around 9:45 p.m. Western Indonesia Time.

The house is estimated to have been built since the 1980s and was made up of about 90 percent wooden planks.

The concrete was only found at the foundation supports.

Fire Reaches the Roof Within Five Minutes

The fire spread quickly after it started.

Within approximately five minutes, the flames had reached the rooftop.

Before firefighters arrived, local residents worked together to manually extinguish the fire using water.

Some villagers were also seen throwing stones at the house walls.

This effort aimed to prevent the fire from consuming more of the wooden structure.

Firefighters arrived about five minutes after the incident began.

The fire was extinguished roughly ten minutes after it started.

There were no casualties in the incident.

Owner Could Not Save Valuables

Asman said the rapid spread of the fire left him no time to save any valuable items inside the house.

"Everything is gone. There was nothing I could save," he said.

Asman lives with his middle-aged mother.

He works daily in the kitchen of the Free Nutritious Meal program (MBG).

When the fire broke out, Asman chose to take his mother out of the house immediately.

"I could only save my mom. All our possessions and valuables were left behind. Everything is gone," he concluded.

Suspected Short Circuit Origin

Asman suspects the fire started due to an electrical short circuit.

According to him, based on his children’s account, the fire was first seen in his room.

"The kids said the fire started in my room. It happened fast. It was a short circuit," Asman said while being evacuated to a neighbor’s house.

However, official sources did not indicate any conclusive findings from authorities regarding the exact cause of the fire.

House Doused Twice

Batangtoru subdistrict head Mara Tinggi Siregar was also present at the scene.

He ordered firefighting vehicles to be dispatched immediately to handle the fire.

After the fire was put out, the fire trucks were instructed to spray the house twice more.

This was done out of concern that some embers might remain in the charred wooden structure and risk reigniting.

Although no lives were lost, the fire prevented Asman from saving any valuables or belongings inside the home.

Parts of this article were originally published on Tribun-Medan.com under the title "Fire in Batangtoru, Asman: Everything is Gone, I Could Only Save Mom".