Thursday, March 27, 2008 (Philippines)

A VIEW OF THE DESTRUCTION. Cause of the dawn fire and amount of the damage still have to be determined. Fr. Valentino Gemelo (inset), parish priest of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Oslob, Cebu was reportedly not in town when the fire struck. (Sun.Star Foto/Allan Defensor) A DAWN fire destroyed one of the oldest churches in Cebu in the most destructive blaze to hit the province this Fire Prevention Month. It took firefighters nearly eight hours to put the flames out. The fire that razed the Immaculate Conception Parish and its convent in the southern town of Oslob also highlighted the need for the government to pay attention to upgrading firefighting equipment. The church sat about 50 meters away from the Oslob fire station in Barangay Poblacion, but much of the firefighting came from the neighboring towns of Santander, Argao, Dalaguete and Sibonga, because Oslob’s two firetrucks were defective. [full story]