SEMINYAK ~ Head of the Badung Fire Department I Nyoman Suweta said that hotel management teams did not take fire safety seriously enough.

“Theoretically, extinguishing fires takes immediate action. If there is an obstacle barring our access, it makes our job more difficult,” he said.

In addition to making sure fire fighters would have unhindered access to hotels in case of far, Suweta said that it was also important for hotels to have functioning Siamese connections, which were Y-shaped standpipes that needed to be installed close to the ground outside a building in order to provide connections for fire hoses.

The Badung Fire Department visited hotels in the Kuta and Jimbaran in April to increase fire awareness, he added.