Fire destroys apartment in Capitol Site

CEBU, Philippines - A fire hit a 12-door apartment along M. Velez Street, Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City yesterday morning that left a tenant wounded and two Pekingese dogs trapped and eventually rescued.

Cebu City Fire Department received the alarm at 8:30 a.m. from Vickey Amadora, who manages the Amadora Apartment.

According to Senior Fire Officer 2 Emiliano Daño, the fire originated from Door 1 which was being rented by Romy Ray Soriano.

The persons left at his unit were his two household helps and his child, who were on the ground floor when the fire broke out.

It was their neighbors who saw smoke billowing from the second floor and when they tried to check it, they could no longer enter because of the intense heat.

Daño said they also already found it hard to penetrate the area by the time they arrived, considering also that the apartment was located at a dead end.

Since big fire trucks could not move in and out of the fire scene, firefighters had to resort to performing “engine relay,” or passing on water from incoming fire trucks to those that were already stationed inside the compound.

Insufficient water supply was also an additional problem, said Daño.

“Gamay ang dalan ‘nya naa sa dead end, hinay ang pressure sa tubig sa MCWD (Metropolitan Cebu Water District), nag-engine relay ‘ta, mahutdan gihapon og tubig,” he said.

The flames quickly spread to other units until it reached door 12.

Eddie Palmes, a tenant of the apartment, guided firefighters towards the burning structure but a hard object hit his wound on the shoulder, causing it to bleed.

Firefighters have also managed to rescue two Pekingese dogs trapped inside one of the units.

Daño said the fire was placed under control almost 20 minutes later, but flames reportedly rekindled and were finally put out by 12:30 p.m.

The fire ate up at least P500,000 worth of property, said Daño.

They are looking at short circuit as the possible cause of the fire since based from the account of one of the helpers, an electrical outlet on the second floor already appeared defective and would sometimes spark fire.

Amadora told reporters that the apartment was constructed 30 years ago. Its ground floor is paved while its second floor is made of light materials. — (FREEMAN)