IT TOOK a fire that cost nearly P4 billion in damage to a building for the government to take measures to assess and upgrade the equipment being used by the fire department.
The Cebu City Government will now partner with the private sector to procure or rent helicopters and fire service ladders to be used in responding to fire incidents involving high-rise buildings.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama also ordered the executive heads, including City Administrator Collin Rosell, to fast-track the purchase of personal protective gear like masks with filters and breathing apparatus to be used by the firefighters and other responders, as well as residents living nearby.
This comes as the Cebu City’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) released Monday, April 17, a building suspension order on Shogun Management and Development Corp., the management of the Grand Residences Cebu condominium development in Barangay Kasambagan where a nine-hour fire struck a building under construction, resulting in almost P4 billion in damage, last April 14.
Rama on Tuesday, April 18, said the equipment to be used by the fire responders should have been purchased a long time ago.
“We needed it yesterday, so we must find a way. Those equipment, medical and what else, that should already have been purchased,” Rama told Rosell and City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo, his special assistants.
Rosell said the City will now prepare the budget to be sourced from the Quick Response Fund for the purchase of breathing apparatus and other protective gear as soon as possible. The number of items to be purchased will depend on the inventory of the fire department, as will the budget.
Rosell said the mayor will call a meeting with the private sector, especially owners of high-rise buildings, so they could come up with uniform measures and policies.
“Kanang ladder gamay ra kay na (The ladders are just a small thing). We are thinking already of higher equipment because high-rise building (owners), they can always be grouped together to procure or to rent helicopters and all just to save and contribute to the city,” said Rosell.
Rama told reporters he will convene all the concerned departments and offices, the barangays, together with the private sector, to come up with comprehensive measures.
“We have to be quick,” said Rama. “I want to declare that this whole thing is no longer a joke.”
Rama said he is not inclined to seek help from the national government in procuring equipment for the fire department since it is also dealing with its own concerns, adding that the City has strong ties with the private sector.
Suspension
Meanwhile, the OBO suspended Monday the construction of the Grand Residences condominium, while the management was ordered to explain and comply with necessary requirements.
The management was required to submit an incident report, corrective actions, methodology, mitigation works, and other documents and justification letters, within three days from receipt of the order.
Failure to comply with the requirements within three days may prompt the OBO to endorse the matter to the City Legal Office for court action.
“Mitigating measures should be made immediately to prevent any further damages and untoward incidents,” a portion of the suspension order says.
OBO’s action is in compliance with a provision under the National Building Code of the Philippines.
Cause
Senior Fire Officer 2 Wendell Villanueva said it may take days or weeks to determine the cause of the fire, as they are also still awaiting the arrival of officials from the national headquarters of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to conduct the final investigation report.
“We expect people from the national headquarters to be here in Cebu by Friday. Anyway, we already have initial information. We are collating pieces of information in the fire scene,” Villanueva said Tuesday.
He said, for now, they are using the spot investigation report to consider all the possible angles on how the fire that engulfed the 35-story building developed.
He said he had heard a lot of speculation on how the fire started and they will not discount any of the theories.
After the spot investigation report, they will develop a progress report. The data will be presented to the BFP officials from the main office once they arrive.
“Maybe in a few weeks or days we can already release the results on the real cause of the fire,” he said.
Villanueva said waiting for the BFP national officials to conduct the final investigation rather than doing it themselves, is part of their protocol for fires that cause that much damage.
He, however, did not specify the amount of damage that must be incurred for the investigation to be conducted at the city, regional or national office level.
Villanueva admitted that the city fire department was overwhelmed when it responded to the fire scene.
“It is very unique. (In) most of the fire incidents we faced, [the fire] started from bottom to top, but this time, the fire started from the roof deck (then went) down to the lower floors,” he said.
He advised those planning to build and currently building tall buildings to make sure there is a safety officer. “I am not saying that the Grand Residences did not have its safety officer, but what I want to say is having one is a must to ensure the safety of the people and the infrastructure,” he said. (With KJF)