BSB City Modern Market Fire: A Moment to Check Your Home and Shophouse Fire Insurance

On Sunday, July 26, 2026, at around 11:00–11:20 WIB, a fire broke out at Pasar Modern (Pasmod) BSB City, Kelurahan Jatibarang, Kecamatan Mijen, Semarang. According to initial reports, the fire is suspected to have been triggered by a leak/spark from a gas regulator at a soto stall, followed by a small explosion, and spread rapidly from east to west due to strong wind and flammable glasswool roofing material. Several fire department units were deployed, and the fire was extinguished within about an hour. A total of 179 kiosks were affected. There were no casualties in this incident.

Source: Tribunjateng, Detik Jateng, Antara Jateng; suspected cause: Tribunjateng.

This is a real incident with real financial losses for 179 traders — not something we intend as criticism of BSB City as an area. Fires in dense commercial areas can happen in any location if gas installations and risky building materials aren't regularly inspected. What's more useful than simply reporting this incident is turning it into a moment of reflection: do you — whether a homeowner or a shophouse owner — have adequate protection should something similar happen to your property?

This isn't just about markets — it's relevant for residential homes too

It's natural for an incident in a commercial area to feel distant from an ordinary home. But fire risk is essentially just as real for both: aging electrical wiring, gas connections that aren't checked regularly, and flammable building materials can exist in an ordinary landed house just as much as in a market kiosk. The difference lies mainly in scale and density — tightly packed kiosks in a market allow fire to spread between units faster, while landed houses with more space between buildings usually provide a slightly longer window for evacuation and response.

What fire insurance generally covers

Fire insurance in Indonesia generally covers losses from fire, lightning strikes, explosions, falling aircraft, and smoke arising from these risks — known as the Indonesian Standard Fire Policy (PSAKI). The insured object is typically the building and/or its contents (furniture, merchandise stock for shophouses/businesses), based on the sum insured agreed upon when the policy is issued.

Here are a few things worth understanding before taking out a policy, without us citing specific premium figures or naming particular insurance companies (since these vary widely depending on risk profile and provider):

• Extended coverage — a basic policy can often be extended to cover additional risks such as riots, earthquakes, or floods; ask explicitly what is and isn't included in your basic policy.
• A realistic sum insured — the sum insured should ideally reflect the cost of rebuilding your property from scratch, not simply the purchase price or NJOP (tax assessment value), as both can differ significantly from reconstruction costs.
• For shophouses/business properties — also consider whether merchandise stock and business equipment are insured separately from the building itself, since traders' losses in incidents like the one at Pasmod tend to be greater in stock and equipment than in the building structure itself.
• Mortgages usually require fire insurance — if you're buying through a mortgage (KPR), banks generally require a fire policy on the collateral for the duration of the loan; this isn't an optional cost within a mortgage scheme, so make sure you understand the coverage rather than simply signing because it's mandatory. You can compare mortgage schemes from several banks via Mirailand's simulation tool.

If your property was purchased in cash without a mortgage, fire insurance isn't legally mandatory — but that also means there's no other party (like a bank) automatically ensuring your protection is adequate. The responsibility of evaluating your risk rests entirely on you.

Risk factors worth checking before buying or renting

The Pasmod BSB City incident highlights two concrete risk factors that are actually universal, not specific to one location: roofing material and gas installations.

Roofing material. Glasswool or similarly flammable roofing materials accelerate fire spread compared to more fire-resistant roofing materials. If you're buying or renting a shophouse/kiosk in a dense commercial area, asking about the building's roofing material (and that of surrounding buildings, since fire can spread from neighboring units) is a reasonable due diligence question, not an excessive one.

Gas installations. For properties with a kitchen or culinary business — whether a residential home or a kiosk/shophouse — check the condition of gas hoses and regulators regularly, not just when first installed. Gas regulators and hoses have a service life; small undetected leaks are one of the most common causes of fire in properties with active kitchens, consistent with the pattern seen in this incident and similar ones elsewhere.

If you're considering a shophouse or kiosk for a business, these two considerations deserve a place on your checklist alongside location and price factors that usually take top priority — you can browse shophouses for sale in Semarang Tengah or shophouses for rent in BSB City, and we've covered shophouse location considerations more fully in our guide to renting shophouses for small businesses.

The losses suffered by 179 traders at Pasmod BSB City are a reminder that fire risk isn't something distant or rare. Whether you own a home or a shophouse, checking your fire insurance policy — or taking one out if you don't have one — is a far cheaper protective step than bearing the full loss alone should something similar happen.