City Hall fire: Belmonte orders half-day work

MANILA, Philippines – Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday declared a half-day work for City Hall employees after a mid-morning fire razed the third level of the newly completed treasury department building.

The fire of still unknown origin destroyed millions of pesos worth of properties and documents, causing a stir among clients then transacting business with the city government.

“For the meantime the employees may go home while we assess the damage but department heads will remain to ensure the smooth delivery of basic services,” Belmonte said.

The mayor was presiding an executive staff meeting when the fire broke out at the adjacent old annex building. He personally led an orderly evacuation of the 14-story building, shutting down the elevator and urging employees to use the stairways.

He said the regular fire drill conducted by the city government in coordination with the police and fire department paid off, as there was no panic among employees as they were getting out from their respective offices.

Ambulances and police patrol cars were deployed around the City Hall as firemen battled the blaze.

A fireman, FO3 Manuel Cabigao was injured when falling debris hit him as he trained his hose to the burning building. He was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Three other fire volunteers were also injured. Lester Ong sprained his right leg, Alvin Acuna had a laceration on his right leg, while another unidentified volunteer sustained minor injuries.

At least 50 firetrucks responded to the fire alarm and contained the fire in an hour.

The fire gutted the whole third floor of the annex building. The second and ground floors, which houses the newly opened taxpayers lounge was damaged by water.

A lot of documents, mostly financial documents of contractors being processed at the fiscal control unit were burned.

The processed documents and attachment of all city payables and liquidation were also water damaged.

“We declared the fire under control at 10:35 a.m.,” Fire District Marshall Bobby Barreto told The STAR.

The lobby of the City Hall was set up as the temporary command center while the firemen were clearing the third floors.

Ed Villanueva, assistant city treasurer, said that except for accountable forms, all the records of the treasury department were intact as backup files were stored at the information technology department.

“The city treasury and accounting offices are fully computerized so all files have back up data,” he said.

Investigation on the cause of the fire was still ongoing but Chief Inspector Ritchie Claravall, chief of the City Hall police complex office, said that initial assessment points to faulty electrical wiring.

Quezon City Police District director Senior Superintendent Elmo San Diego described the old annex building to be about 30 years old that has had occasional renovations.

“What we immediately checked and guarded was the ground floor where there was actual cash from payments made. Fortunately, the cash has been stored in the vaults,” Claravall said.

He added that the rooms of some of the councilors were among those affected by the fire. The councilors’ offices were located adjacent to the burning old annex building.

Claravall cited that documents at the office of Councilor Joseph Juico were hosed down when firefighters noticed smoke already inside it.

The police official added that the glass windows and doors at the offices of Councilors Wency Lagumbay and Ramon Medalla had been broken.

The BFP said the first alarm was declared at 9:13 a.m. and reached Task Force Charlie at 9:35 a.m. – With Reinir Padua