P2 million lost in fire at Vision Theater

CEBU, Philippines - An estimated P2 million worth of property went up in smoke yesterday when fire hit one of the historic buildings along colon St. yesterday afternoon.

Fire swept the ground floor and a portion of the second floor of the 89-year-old Vision Theater.

Chief Insp. Virginia Toledo, Cebu City Fire Department operations chief and officer-in-charge, said that the alarm was raised at 1:12 p.m.

Over two hours later, they raised the alarm to Task Force Alpha, which means that fire trucks from areas outside of the city were also tapped to help put off the blaze.

SFO1 Alcasim Espinola, the investigator, said that the fire was contained around 3:30 p.m., but fire out wasn’t declared yet until early evening.

The fire also resulted to a traffic jam in the downtown area.

 Espinola said that the firefighters were only able to penetrate inside the building at almost 7 p.m. yesterday.

He said that they had a difficult time in penetrating the area due to poor ventilation.

The building, which used to be a movie theater and survived the bombing of Cebu towards the end of World War II, was occupied mostly by traders selling digital video discs.

Since most of the tenants are Muslim, they were not in the area when fire broke out as they were at the mosque for prayers.

Espinola said that the fire originated at the ground floor were several pieces of DVDs and VCDs were stored.

They are however yet to determine what actually started the fire.

Wendel Yulo, owner of the building, confirmed that the fire indeed started in a place where one of his tenants stored his goods.

Yulo denied rumors that a tenant started the fire after he confronted him for his failure to regularly pay the rent.

He said that all of his tenants were able to pay their dues on time.

Some of the tenants also believed that the fire originated from the restaurant at the ground floor of the building, but Yulo said that they were no longer operating the said establishment for a long time.

 Espinola said that they will leave it to the Office of the Building Official to assess the soundness of the building’s structure.

One thing that prevented the firefighters from penetrating the building is the lack of breathing apparatus.

Sr. Supt. Aloveel Ferrer, regional director of Bureau of Fire Prevention-7, said that they only have a limited number of breathing apparatus.

 Ferrer also denied the allegations that the aerial ladder was not working, which is the reason why it was not used yesterday.

He said that the aerial ladder was in Lapu-Lapu City and is used only for fired involving buildings that are five stories and up.

Another problem noted by firemen yesterday was that the public would not give way to the fire trucks.

Nearby establishments were closed for the safety of their employees and staff.

 The theater was originally a hotel building built in the 1920s and then one of the biggest and most popular pre-war theaters in Cebu. Its neo-classical façade boasts of sculptures designed by Italian Dante Guidetti. — Niña G. Sumacot/NLQ   (THE FREEMAN)