Supt. Esmael Codilla, Cebu City fire marshal, told reporters they had difficulty reaching the place, which is in an interior portion of Carlock St.
Residents said the fire originated from the house of Henry Chan, who reportedly had a store that sold liquefied petroleum gas and had stacks of paper for recycling.
Codilla, however, said they failed to confirm this, but will check what is inside Chan’s house.
He said that SFO2 Ramero Amantian, Cebu City fire prevention inspector, was unable to save anything because the flames spread so fast.
Codilla said the fire scene had many old houses, most of which were made of wood.
There were also small structures made of light materials in the interior area, and the firefighters had limited access.
“Mosulod ta, puros dead end. Wala ta’y klarong kaagian og dili ta kalapos-lapos (We got in but reached dead ends. There were no clear paths, so we could not crisscross through the area),” he explained.
This prompted him to declare a general alarm, which meant all available firetrucks in Cebu City and the province had to respond.
Codilla and his men also got help from the Cebu Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation.
The crowd added to the difficulty in arriving at the fire scene as they occupied Carlock, B. Aranas and C. Padilla Sts., blocking the firetrucks.
Before the police and auxiliaries arrived to keep them at bay, they grabbed fire hoses and destroyed water meters to gain access to water.
Supt. Mariano Batiancela, San Nicolas police chief, had to repeatedly ask children, bystanders and curiosity-seekers to stay off the crowded streets.
Teams from the Crime Suppression Unit and the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) arrived to help control the crowd.
Codilla said there was low pressure in nearby hydrants. He said only the one on J.M. Basa St. had water, which was not enough for all firetrucks.
Some of the trucks had to leave their positions and reload water from elsewhere.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who came to the scene, said they will check the fire hydrants and will add more if these were not enough.
On the allegation by some residents that it took too long for the firefighters to arrive, Codilla said they were dependent on the time the first call for help was made.
He explained that the only way for them to know a fire is in progress is when someone alerts the fire department.
Initially, there were no reports of injuries or casualties.
As of press time, firefighters were still at the scene, making sure that the fire will not rekindle.
