Monday, November 27, 2006 Yule lights trigger mansion fire
A WELL-TO-DO family in Barangay Pagsabungan, Mandaue City learned about the safe use of Christmas lights the hard way after fire gutted their mansion last Saturday night.
At least P2.5 million worth of properties were lost in the blaze, which started at the base of a 20-foot Christmas tree inside Gloria Ngo’s house.
Ngo’s 40-year-old daughter, Marivic, was still missing as of 8 last night.
Mandaue City Fire Marshall Oscar Mayol told Sun.Star yesterday that Marivic was last seen in her bedroom after dinner was served to her.
Electrical misuse is being eyed as a possible cause of the fire.
According to witnesses, the flames immediately spread from the base of the Christmas tree.
The person in charge of house maintenance was reportedly not around when cloth and Styrofoam were installed at the foot of the tree.
The Mandaue City Fire Department received the call for help around 7 p.m. last Friday.
Pagsabungan Barangay Captain Cirilo Congson said the Ngo family failed to salvage any belongings. He recalled that the family had an antique collection and a mini-theater inside the house.
He said the Ngos, who own a manufacturing company, were very generous to the barangay, and even donated the lot where their chapel stands.
And they always give presents to barangay tanods every Christmas, he said.
Now that tragedy has struck, Congson said the barangay’s officials and tanods will assist them in any way they can.
The fire, declared under a third alarm, was placed under control in 30 minutes, but it took around eight hours to put out the embers.
Mandaue’s Accident Control and Emergency Rescue Team, the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade, and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation responded to the alarm, along with firefighters from the cities of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.
Mayol said what happened was not the first for the Ngo family because their garage also caught fire two years ago.
Electrical misuse reportedly also caused that incident.
Mayol said the fire is the first in Mandaue this year to have been caused by Christmas lights.
He advised the public that before installing their lights, qualified electricians must check them, even if they worked perfectly the previous year.
He added that the Ngo family’s helpers and those who decorated the Christmas tree will be interviewed. (RHM)
