Gov asks for vigilance vs fire

CEBU, Philippines - Gov. Hilario Davide III yesterday appealed to the public to be more vigilant after at least eight fire incidents were reported in Cebu since the start of December.

“Bantayan gyod ning mga (Be on the lookout for possible) causes of fire.  Always be vigilant to avoid accidents,” he said.

Early morning yesterday, the eighth fire left at least 54 families homeless and injured a 21-year-old resident in Sitio Lemonsito, Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City yesterday.

Mandaue City firefighters received the alarm at 5:30 a.m. and controlled the blaze in less than 30 minutes.

The fire department immediately placed the fire under Task Force Alpha, or that firetrucks from neighboring areas should respond, and was declared totally extinguished within 38 minutes.

The fire allegedly started in the house of Elsa Manuel, 67, a rag maker who has a 21-year-old adopted son John Michael whom authorities said was mentally challenged.

Manuel only uses a kerosene lamp as light source in their home as they never had electricity.  John Michael allegedly threw the lamp into a pile of dry rags inside their house, starting a fire that quickly spread.

John Michael suffered first-degree burns on his forearm and was immediately brought to the Mandaue City Hospital .

Relatives later sheltered him for fear that neighbors might gang up on him.

An initial report by the Bureau of Fire Protection stated the fire destroyed 25 houses, but the City Social Welfare Services (CSWS), which made a survey on the number of victims, put the number of destroyed houses at 40.

Umapad Barangay Captain Nelson Rubio said that most of the affected residents were renting the lot owned by Jackie Alivio, whom he said assured that victims would be allowed to rebuild their houses.

Rubio, however, said 10 families who would no longer allowed to rebuild their houses and would be relocated.

The CSWS distributed meals to 54 displaced families and 14 renters who were victimized by the fire.  They are temporarily accommodated at the Opao Elementary School, which cancelled its classes yesterday.

Damage of fire was pegged at P300,000.

The Umapad fire, which the BFP estimated to have destroyed P300,000 worth of properties, is the third fire to hit Metro Cebu this week.

Davide said everyone has the responsibility to be extra watchful for possible causes of fire.

“It’s irresponsible pud kun isulti nato nga ang (to say that the fires were) cause(d) kay rotational brownout, kay there’s no basis para nako ana ba,” he said in response to the question whether or not he thinks the daily brownouts could have possibly caused the fire.

The governor said it is just on how the people take care of their homes, negligence being one of the reasons why fires occur.

Last Dec. 4, Wednesday, a fire broke out in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City which was allegedly started by a lighted mosquito coil or a spark from an electrical switch.

Two days later, three separate fire alarms were reported in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue. The first was at the office of Cebu City Hall Executive Assistant Jose Daluz III caused by an air-conditioning unit that overheated.

The second fire happened at the back of the warehouse of the production site for caskets of the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Lahug, Cebu City.

The third incident that day occurred in a poultry house located in Basak, Mandaue City that reportedly started at the ceiling of a house.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, more than a hundred houses in Sitio Laray and Caimito in Barangay Carreta and Sitio Tierra Cura in Barangay Tejero in Cebu City were also destroyed by fire.

In barangays Quiot and Kinasang-an, Cebu City, separate fires also razed a total of 175 houses at dawn last Wednesday, Dec. 11. –/RHM (FREEMAN)