Modern gear sought vs fires

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is set to meet with different concerned government agencies and other sectors in a move to better equip the city against fire incidents after a highrise building in Barangay Kasambagan caught fire Friday afternoon.

Rama, in an interview with The FREEMAN yesterday, said he was supposed to meet them yesterday but gave firefighters and rescuers time to rest after several hours of combatting the fire that occurred in one of the Grand Residences’ condominium buildings under construction.

Instead, he has reset the meeting with the Bureau of Fire Protection tomorrow in a still undisclosed venue. Officers of the Liga ng mga Barangays, the city disaster team, as well as the different chambers of commerce here, among others, were also invited to the meeting.

Rama said he has been discussing the matter on how to address fire incidents in highrise buildings right after his trip to Hong Kong last month. A highrise building in Hong Kong also caught fire last month.

“Ako na ng gi-meet sila. Mo-meet na sad ko nila. I was able to discuss this matter before pa. The last time I came from Hongkong,” said Rama.

Rama said, if it happened in Hong Kong, it definitely could happen anywhere, including here, so they better be ready for a more advanced solution.

With the latest incident here, Rama said they should be meeting again to address the issue on the lack of equipment to better address fires in skyscrapers.

Building owners are also expected to better equip their properties for emergencies.

“Panawagan sa tanan nga dili maghuwat. Pero mag-convergence na sad ko para maklaro from a philanthropic, from corporate social responsibility and then on the side of the chamber, sa mga Chinese, ABC and sa city government, especially sa atong disaster risk reduction management office,” added Rama.

The mayor also stressed that aside from the equipment, the preparedness aspect of firefighters and rescuers must also be looked into.

“The most important thing is, how prepared we should be – that if and when that thing will occur, kanang giingon natog madali ug put off. Ikaduha ang atong rescue, ang atong pag-transfer. These are things that (are) reactive but there (are) things that have to be focused (on) and be proactive,” said Rama.

For the time being though, Rama was impressed with the response of the firefighters, including those from the other LGUs.

“If you look at it, they were superb. They’re all there…But much is to be desired. I don’t want to be accusing any person. The most important thing is we have to be open,” said Rama.

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Fire Station is in favor of having more aerial ladder platform firetrucks as more highrise buildings are constructed in Cebu City.

Cebu City Fire Department’s spokesperson, Senior Fire Officer 2 Wendell Villanueva, in a separate interview, said the fire at Grand Residences is different from the other incidents as it started from the top of the building under construction before it suddenly went down.

Villanueva said the investigation is still ongoing regarding the cause of the fire on Tower 4 of Grand Residences, an edifice owned by Shogun Management and Development Corporation.

The fire, which reached Task Force Bravo, had an estimated damage of P3.98 billion.

No casualty was recorded, according to Dr. Ester Concha, head of the Department of Social Welfare and Services. But she said they fed the firefighters who responded to the fire.

The city’s fire department is hopeful that they get to have more ladder firetrucks, as they only have four that reach up to the 18th floor only.

Last month, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, during the opening of the National Fire Olympics, had expressed that BFP should get all the equipment needed and not only a portion of it for its modernization efforts.

Dela Rosa wants the BFP to purchase fire helicopters, at least one per region to better fight fire incidents, especially in tall buildings around progressive cities like Cebu City. — Rowena Capistrano/GAN (FREEMAN)