A THREE-minute blaze, believed to have been caused by electrical short circuit, hit the Cebu Legislative Building’s second floor fire exit inside the Capitol compound in Cebu City shortly after noon yesterday.
Roving guards first saw thick smoke from the area adjacent to the emergency steel door of the Cebu Court of First Instance (CFI) Community Cooperative.
They immediately called the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for assistance.
The damaged area, described by Provincial Engineering Office’s Richard Lacaron as a pipe chest, is located at the building’s east wing.
Inside were steel and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes for water supply and pipes protecting electrical wires.
FO3 Antonio Gonzales, fire investigator, and responding firefighters found burnt PVC pipes.
Short circuit
Gonzales suggested to Lacaron to check on the electrical wirings of the building following the incident.
Gonzales, who said the Cebu City Fire Department received the alarm at 12:03 p.m., said electrical short circuit could have triggered the fire.
After destroying the pipe chest’s wooden door, fire spread and razed piles of documents and wooden portable stairs on the floor nearby.
Gonzales said they declared the fire under control three minutes after they arrived in the compound. He pegged the damage at P10,000.
Fire extinguishers that provincial Civil Security Unit (CSU) members and security guards used in fighting the fire while waiting for the firefighters to arrive also helped in containing the flames.
Lawyer Lito Astillero, Cebu CFI Cooperative board member, told Sun.Star Cebu that not one of their documents and valuable items was destroyed by the fire, which was contained before it reached their office.
Astillero, who heard about the fire over the radio, said he immediately headed to the Capitol, as initial reports said the CFI office was affected.
He was on his way to the Cebu International Convention Center to attend to the cooperative’s general assembly when he learned about the fire.
Contractor
Firefighters, with clearance from CSU head Valentino Cruz, forced open the third floor office of Provincial Board Member Jose Ma. Gastardo, as thick smoke wasalso seen coming out from one of its windows.
It turned out smoke from the pipe chest passed through the airconditioning system vents and reached his office.
No one was reported hurt in the incident, which shocked Vice Gov. Gregory Sanchez, who learned about it when Sun.Star Cebu called. He said the building’s contractor will be the one to take care of the damage.
“The building has not yet been turned over…. It was not yet accepted by the Provincial Government,” he said in a mobile phone interview.
He was peeved with the contractor after hearing that electrical short circuit was eyed as possible cause of the fire. (JST with a report from JGA)
