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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Fire truck causes pileup of 8 vehicles; 12 injured
What spreads faster than a fire? Try the momentum from a loaded fire truck that’s just lost its brakes in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Twelve people were injured when a fire truck lost its brakes and rammed a passenger jeepney, triggering an accident that damaged six other vehicles ahead of it in downtown Cebu City yesterday morning.
That accident prompted Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama to point out that such trucks are often poorly maintained, due to the lack of logistical support from higher headquarters.
It was the first accident for both the Isuzu Squrt fire truck and SFO1 Flor Soco Jr. The truck, after all, is one of the Cebu City Fire Department’s “most powerful” machines, and Soco, one of the department’s better firemen.
Although the fire truck is already old, City Fire Marshall Ysmael Codilla said he did not expect the brakes of the truck to malfunction since the unit just got out of the motorpool last week.
The truck was bought in 1981 yet.
Loaded
The fire truck’s driver said he slowed down as he approached seven vehicles that stopped for a red signal at the corner of T. Padilla St. and M.J. Cuenco Ave.
But, loaded as it was with 1,200 gallons of water, the truck kept moving even after SFO1 Soco pumped the air brakes several times.
Those injured were taken to the Perpetual Succor Hospital and the Cebu City Medical Center by an ambulance dispatched from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).
“I slowed down as I was approaching the corner, but when I applied the brake, the truck wouldn’t stop,” Soco told Sun.Star Cebu in an interview.
Cebu City’s traffic enforcers confiscated his driver’s license and his superior in the BFP took him into custody, while the accident is under investigation.
Except for Ricardo la Parilla, 23, who worked for the driver of the Mandaue-Cebu jeepney that the truck first hit, all the other victims suffered only bruises. Parilla broke his left leg.
Fire investigator SFO2 Felix Romero said that BFP Regional Director Victorio Remedio directed him to submit a list of those injured and the extent of damage to all seven vehicles to their Manila head office.
Payments
The BFP will pay for the hospitalization costs and the property damage. Remedio was the one who presented Soco to the traffic division for investigation.
He also said the BFP will conduct a separate investigation to determine if Soco was negligent or if a mechanical malfunction was to blame.
“We have our own procedure to follow. If he was negligent, we have a specific penalty,” Romero told reporters.
The fire truck came from the Lahug fire station and was on its way to City Hall as a standby service. Its engine and airbrake were functioning well when it left the fire station at 11 a.m.
“I even stopped several times on my way here, but all of a sudden, the brakes failed when I reached the T. Padilla junction,” Soco said.
To ensure that all fire trucks and firemen can efficiently and promptly respond to an alarm, fire marshall Codilla has required all his personnel to check their trucks and do an engine test at 6 a.m. everyday.
No liquor
Yesterday, he did not get any report about a defective truck until the accident happened past 11 a.m., he said.
“That truck is one of our most powerful fire trucks... Sometimes, we cannot prevent accidents because the vehicle or its spare parts suffer wear and tear,” fire marshall Codilla told Sun.Star Cebu.
Codilla was at the accident scene yesterday noon and according to the bystanders who witnessed it, the driver was not overspeeding, he said.
Codilla also asked the driver to undergo a liquor test but the results were negative.
“It was a plain accident. He was moving slowly, but the truck’s weight just kept it moving. It was an accident. The driver wasn’t drunk. SFO1 Soco is a good man; I can vouch for him, but we’ll still put him under investigation,” he added.
Councilor Procopio Fernandez, who heads the council committee on police, fire, penology and public safety, asked the fire department to submit a report within the day. (AIV/LCR/RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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