Star City: Fire Gasoline, cotton boost arson theory – probers

MANILA, Philippines — A 14-hour fire that brought down almost the entire Star City complex last Wednesday might have been deliberately set off, an official said yesterday.

Investigators are trying to establish that the fire was an incident of arson, but Superintendent Paul Pili, marshal of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)’s Pasay City office, stressed that “this should be proved.”

He pointed out that the presence of gasoline at one of the rides and cotton being brought into the amusement park the day before the fire bolstered the theory that it was indeed an incident of arson.

“We saw that the gasoline was not necessary in the place where we saw it,” Pili said.

Gasoline was detected particularly at the Pirate Adventure ride, where round boats would slide along a man-made canal. Pili took members of media to the spot where rides at the Pirate Adventure would start and let them sniff water from a bottle that he said reeked of gasoline.

He also took reporters to spots where concrete walls were broken, noting that flames were at their hottest in these areas.

Pili said the BFP-Pasay submitted around 20 samples to the agency’s arson laboratory and to the National Bureau of Investigation. The BFP-Pasay has about 45 days to finish its probe of the Star City fire.

The possibility of an electrical overload was ruled out, he added, as the power supply was turned off since the amusement park was closed for the day, the park’s chief engineer said.

Owners, tenants eyed 

Pili said the BFP-Pasay is trying to zero in on potential suspects, which include the amusement park’s owners and officials as well as its tenants.

“Kapag arson, puwedeng may-ari dahil he has control of the area, at kung ibang tao… dahil may tenants sila, tingnan natin kung ano ang motibo (If it’s arson, the owner could become a suspect because he has control of the area… if done by other people, we have to see the motive),” Pili said.

The BFP-Pasay might summon Star City’s owners and officials to get their statements on the incident, he added.

They might also be ordered to present documents like trial balance, statement of assets and even their insurance policy, Pili said.

“It’s hard to pinpoint now who did it…It is part of circumstantial evidence, we try to connect until we find the perpetrator,” he said.

The agency is also looking into the alleged involvement of a certain Mr. Wong, said to be a tenant in the amusement park and owner of Star Games, in the fire.

Pili said Wong and several companions brought in cotton the day before the fire but did not register in the logbook.  

He noted that the park possesses a fire safety inspection certificate issued last year and will expire on Oct. 23.

In a statement, the Star City management explained that “there is gasoline inside the Star City complex because there is a ride that runs on gasoline particularly the Bumper Boat.”

Pili, however, said all the rides at the park ran on electricity.

The park also said the fire “originated from just one area, which is a locator’s warehouse for stuffed toys.”

Pili earlier said the fire had more than one point of origin and spread too quickly.

As for the cotton being brought in on that day, it said this is “not unusual because cotton filling is being used to stuff toys redeemed in games.”

The park’s management also cried foul over reports of arson as the motive.

“We feel that it was inappropriate, to say the least, to release statements to media first regarding arson as the cause of the fire when the investigation is not clearly concluded and before taking up such matter with Star City’s management,” it added.