Fire guts faculty room of school

CEBU, Philippines - A 15-minute fire gutted the faculty room of the Maximino Noel Memorial High school in barangay Guadalupe, Carcar City the other night.

The Carcar City fire department received the alarm at 9:45 p.m. Thursday and it took them 15 minutes to control the fire that destroyed at estimated P250,000 worth of property.

The school’s 17 other classrooms were spared.

Carcar City fire chief Insp. Ethel Margoha said they had a problem in responding to the area and were faced with the locked gate of the school when they arrived.

It was school principal Oliver Campogan and the school guard who were last to leave the school premises at around 5:30 p.m. that day.

“Amo gyud gisiguro nga i-off ang main switch kay wala man gyud tawo mabilin dinhi sa eskuwelahan. Ambot nag-libog bitaw mi kun ngano ni siya nga off man gyud ang main switch,” Campogan said.

Campogan said the permanent records and report cards of their students were also lost. The faculty room was constructed in 1998.

Margoha said they will be inviting Campogan and the school guard to shed light on the investigation.

Fire investigators also did not discount the possibility that some individuals might have personal grudges against some teachers and set the fire deliberately. — Ramil V. Ayuman/BRP (THE FREEMAN)