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[av_heading heading=’EASTER FIRE | 56 La Paz houses razed, 11 persons injured’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Monday, April 17, 2017
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ILOILO City – Before dawn on Easter Sunday, fire hit a squatters’ area in Barangay Lopez Jaena Norte, La Paz district and gutted 56 houses.
The fire also injured 11 adults, including Fire Officer 3 Marlon Cañesares. Some of them sustained first- and second-degree burns.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), 52 of the houses were totally destroyed while four were partially damaged.
There were no deaths.
BFP received a fire call at 12:51 a.m. yesterday and responding firefighters declared fire out at 6:05 a.m. or a little over five hours after, according to Superintendent Jerry Candido, Iloilo City fire marshal.
The fire originated from the second floor of Teresita Jaena’s house, initial investigation showed. There may have been an electrical short circuit due to overloading.
POWER PILFERAGE
“From the point of origin, we were able to recover electrical installations or wirings nga may evidence of short circuit. Ang ini nga balay waay sang electric meter. Obviously, ang iya nga source of electricity was illegal,” said Candido.
Firefighters discovered what Candido said were wires used to illegally tap electricity.
The fire marshal also said Jaena’s house (made of mixed light materials and concrete) were packed with appliances – nine electric fans, a freezer and a television. Because of these, investigators theorized a possible overloading.
“Since direkta ang kuryente, grabe ang paglapta sang kalayo. The only way nga ma-cut off ang electricity nga nagalatay sa iya balay is to cut off the line,” Candido explained.
The initial estimate of damage was P4 million.
DELAYED RESPONSE
The city BFP got help from the fire stations of the municipalities of Pavia, Tigbauan, San Miguel, and Leganes.
A total of 18 fire trucks responded to the fire scene. There were also volunteer brigades.
Candido acknowledged there was a delay in penetrating the area. The barangay road was constricted.
“We laid out some 20 water hoses before we reached the scene of the fire,” said Candido.
One hose measured 50 feet long.
Parked trisikads and other vehicles made the penetration difficult, said Candido.
“Kun ina nga barangay road wala ginaparkingan, makasulod ang aton fire truck, maski dako pa nga fire truck. Tani nahagan-hagan ta ang damage,” said Candido.
Meanwhile, the City Social Welfare Development Office (CSWDO) immediately provided aid to the displaced families.
Barangay Captain Marjorie Gregorios counted some 100 families.
Some sought shelter at the barangay hall and Aglipayan Church, she said.
CSWDO will extend cash assistance to the fire victims – P5,000 for each household with totally damaged house and P2,500 for each family with partially damaged house.
This was the first major fire in Iloilo City since BFP wrapped up the Fire Prevention Month observance last month.
From March 1 to 31, the Bureau recorded 51 fire incidents here. This figure was lower than the 78 fire incidents BFP recorded for the same month last year, according to Candido.
The dropped in cases indicated the effectiveness of BFP’s house-to-house fire safety campaign, he said.
The value of property damage also dramatically dropped – from P12 million March last year to only P700 thousand last month.
“While there were still fire incidences sa syudad, ang mga pumuluyo kabalo na gid sang ila himuon. In 90 percent the fire incidences we responded, pag-abot namon pumuluyo ang nagapatay sa kalayo,” said Candido.
The number of grassfire last month also dropped – from 41 last year to only nine this year.
Candido, however, said the public should not be complacent but instead continue to be vigilant./PN
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