Sunday, April 13, 2008 Bautista: Is there a firebug out there? By Sam Bautista Tea Leaf Reader
THINK about it, three major fires striking the city in almost the same number of months costing multi-millions. Who wouldn't think there is an arsonist within our midst?
Intriguing although really. And the number of mouths asking this same question is growing in Baguio's coffee and barbershops. The idea immediately crossed my mind as soon as JJ Landingin texted me of the fire which razed the "Black Market" of the city public market.
Right after the thought came the responsibilities. Text Ernie, text Rima, text other fotogs, get the story, get the freshest photo angle, etc. It was only after dispatching the crew to do the job I mellowed down with cup of Earl Grey and a smoke and started thinking whether there is enough evidence to prove this hypothesis.
After the smoke, I grabbed another cancer stick and started ticking points with my fingers.
Point one: Four, counting the one at Gibraltar Road, fires in a span of three months. First was the University of Baguio inferno, followed by the Gibraltar blaze in February. Then the Tiong San Supermart fire last April 2 and now the dawn "black market".
Point two: These fires were estimated to cost in the millions of pesos, with the Gibraltar "bonfire" at the lowest at a mere P1 million plus. The biggest was of course the Tiong San fire which cost its owners P200 million then the UB conflagration at an about P60 million. Now the "black market" at P20 million. Somebody must be mad at the idea of millions.
Point three: Each one of these blazes was caused by electrical reasons. Curious.
Point four: The fires were practically confined to the buildings affected with very little "collateral damage" (meaning other structures), except the UB conflagration where a portion of the Dangwa station was affected.
Point five: There were (thank God) no casualties in all four fires.
Point six: Wait there is no point six because I have to reach for the tissue paper.
*****
What do all these points, ah, point to? Are these enough to prove there is a firebug amongst us to give us more grief and pain?
Oddly enough, I came up with two conclusions, "No" and "Yes".
No, because although there appears to be a pattern, the supposed pattern isn't enough to actually prove the existence of an arsonist/s. There just isn't enough to go on at this point and may be the fire investigators would be able to shed more light on this, if they start thinking this way.
Yes, because the fires were the fault of men. By this I mean the blazes could have been prevented if there was conscious effort to make our structures truly safe.
Faulty electric wiring could be prevented if the people who own these structures (or manage as in the case of the "black market" one) regularly checked the integrity of their electrical systems. Think of it this way, if the owners of these buildings were conscientious enough to err on the safe side the fires probably would not have happened.
And the funny part about all these mulling is that we all fall prey to complacency and cause such disasters in our and other people's lives.
The moral of this is that we can't afford to be smug when it comes to the safety of our homes, buildings, and members of our families. A fire, or any accident for that matter, can happen anytime. The only defense against such misfortunes is to be conscious that it could happen and minimize the chances of it ever occurring in the first place.
