|
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
T. Padilla fire: 11 injured; 1,700 people left homeless
By MINERVA B. GERODIAS
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AUTHORITIES are looking into illegal power connections as one of the possible causes of the fire that hit Barangay T. Padilla, Cebu City Monday night, destroying 217 houses and leaving 1,403 persons homeless.
Damage to property was estimated at P2.5 million. Apart from those razed, 17 other houses were damaged.
Eleven persons were injured, two of them firefighters identified as Ali Casim Espinola of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Charles Chan of the Chinese Volunteer Brigade.
Most of the 11 suffered first-degree burns and minor wounds, but Chan was reported with a slight crack in his right knee after it was hit by the hose’s metal coupling.
It was the biggest fire so far this year and the third blaze this March, which is Fire Prevention Month.
Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said at least 317 families were displaced.
The BFP received the alarm at 11:05 p.m. and put the fire under control at 1:10 a.m. It was declared a general alarm a few minutes after it started.
Firefighters finally put out the fire by 7:25 a.m. yesterday.
SFO3 Allan Arciaga said they are still investigating what caused the blaze but he admitted that they received reports that illegal electricity connections may have triggered it.
The BFP said the fire started in the house of Manuel Padilla.
Sparks
Padilla’s live-in partner, Joan Canarecio, admitted that their electric connection was illegally tapped from the main line by Antonio Managad, Padilla’s cousin.
Canarecio said she and Padilla lived in the second floor of the house while Managad and his family occupied the ground floor.
When they moved into the house last year, she said the electric connection was already
illegally tapped. She related that sparks could be seen from the connection at times, especially during rains.
Last Monday night, she, Manuel and their one-year-old daughter were in the house of Manuel’s parents, about two houses away from their residence.
Minutes after they were informed that their house was on fire, the flames spread quickly.
Among the victims was GMA 7 cameraman Joel Pantino and two Sun.Star employees.
In a brief interview, Pantino said he was on duty at that time, so he and a reporter went to the area after they heard the fire alarm.
When he realized his home was among those threatened, he had to leave work to help his parents pack their things.
Crowd control
Arciaga said the very unruly crowd and narrow roads were their main problems. Firefighting operations were hampered by some residents who snatched the hose from firefighters, he added.
SFO1 Leslie Molihon of the Talamban fire station was even punched by a resident when he refused to give the hose.
Arciaga said their operation was also delayed because they had to “engine relay” the water, on account of the narrow roads.
This meant that the fire trucks had to park in single file. They then passed on their supply of water to the truck in front of them until it reached the one nearest the flames. Only the outermost truck kept leaving the area to fetch more water.
The fire easily spread to the interior portion of the barangay, where the houses are jammed together and made of light materials.
The BFP will summon Padilla and Managad to its investigation today. MBG
(March 24, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
