Tuesday, April 03, 2007 Cabaero: End of Fire Prevention Month By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
FIRE Prevention Month ended last March 31 with Cebu probably garnering the deadliest record in the country.
The month started with a fire in Barangay Tinago, Cebu City, on March 2 that rendered four persons injured and 80 families without homes. Vice Mayor Michael Rama said the Tinago fire showed the need to provide better access to interior portions of barangays, according to a Sun.Star Cebu report. Rama said fire trucks had a hard time getting to the area because of the narrow roads. “It the usual problem of narrow access roads,” he said.
The incident proved to be just the beginning because, five days later, a major blaze struck Mandaue City.
Last March 7, a 37-year-old man died as he was trapped while trying to save his belongings in the fire that hit Barangays Mantuyong and Guizo in Mandaue City. The fire raged for four hours and, at its end, three firemen and a teenager were also injured. The affected areas were densely populated and the razed houses were made of mostly light materials.
Officials wanted to bulldoze several houses along the fire’s path to prevent the flames from spreading. But the fire grew stronger, illuminating the lack of a clear alternative action for effective firefighting.
Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano said it was the biggest blaze to hit Mandaue in its history. The City Council declared the two barangays in a state of calamity after the fire destroyed P6.8 million worth of properties and left 1,356 families homeless.
Then, on March 10, another fire hit Mandaue City, near the public market in Barangay Centro, just across the area of the March 7 blaze. No one was hurt but P75,000 worth of property were destroyed.
At that point, two weeks into Fire Prevention Month, Mandaue City already logged a total of five fire incidents. That was not to be the end, however.
Seven members of a Chinese-Filipino family were killed when a fire engulfed their house in Barangay Cogon-Pardo, Cebu City, in the dawn of March 25.
Eng Eng Chung Chua, 70, Karen Chua Que, 15, Ada Marie Magallanes Chua, 16, Arvin Magallanes Chua, 13, Helen Chua Que, 42, Arjohn Magallanes Chua, 12, and Kennette Que Chua, 10, failed to get out of the burning house because of the iron grills on their windows.
Fire investigators have reiterated their appeal to house owners not to use iron grills to avoid getting trapped during emergencies.
These events give Cebu the record of having probably the most fire incidents and related deaths during Fire Prevention Month in the country. While not one record Cebu could be proud of, it could be a starting point to taking more action.
The incidents showed how continuing education is necessary, how a firefighting strategy or action plan would come in handy and what planning for the city’s residential and commercial zones could do to help save lives during a fire.
There was no sigh of relief when March ended because it had less to do with the month and more to do with a yearlong preparation.
