A FIRE hit a 37-story building under construction at the Grand Residences condominium development on Gov. M. Cuenco Ave. in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City on Friday, April 14, 2023, causing almost P4 billion in damage after the flames raged for nine hours.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is now looking to review the capabilities of the Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO) and other local fire brigades, following the severe damage brought by the fire.
In an interview with SunStar Cebu on Saturday, April 15, Rama said this review aims to improve the capabilities of firefighters in the city in responding to fire incidents, especially those involving high-rise buildings.
SunStar Cebu is still reaching out to building owner Shogun Management and Development Corp. for comment on the incident.
The fire started at 2:40 p.m. on Friday and the fire alarm was raised to Task force Bravo, which meant that all fire brigades from the rest of Cebu Province had to help put out the fire.
The fire was declared under control at 7:50 p.m. and out at 11:50 p.m. on the same day.
Risky
CCFO Senior Fire Officer Wendell Villanueva told SunStar Cebu on Saturday that it had been challenging and risky for the local fire brigade to put out the fire that first hit the Grand Residences building in mid-afternoon.
“Gasugod sa taas, unya padung ubos. Unya gadungan pa gyud ug ulbo sa lain-laing floors. Galisod gyud atong personnel... kay wala ta mag-expect dali makakanaog ang kayo,” Villanueva said.
(The fire started on the upper floors, then went down. And the flames erupted simultaneously on various floors. Our personnel really had a hard time... because we did not expect the fire to reach the lower floors so quickly.)
Firefighters were sent up to the higher floors with complete equipment; however, the fire spread to the lower floors.
So as not to risk his personnel getting trapped between the burning floors, the fire commander and the management of the building decided to pull out the fire personnel and focus on putting out the fire on the lower floors.
He added: “Capable ra man gyud ta. Gani wala man makatabok sa pikas building ang sunog, pero angay gyud to panaminan nga sunog para ma-improve pa atong operation.”
(We are capable. The fire was not able to cross to the other building, but the fire should make us reflect on how to improve our operations.)
He said the fourth to the 35th floors of the building were totally damaged by the fire.
He said the CCFO has three trucks with motorized ladders; however, these could reach only up to the 18th floor or 54 meters high.
Rama said he is open to improving the capabilities of the CCFO and other fire brigades, including by procuring additional fire trucks with ladders if possible.
Rama also explained that these trucks are limited to reaching only certain floors, and that even fire trucks from other countries do not have the capacity to respond to fire incidents involving high-rise buildings.
However, he believes there is a lot to learned from the incident.
Welding
Their initial investigation showed that the fire started on the 37th floor, or the top floor, where they believe sparks from a welding rod ignited combustible materials when the construction workers were working on the top floors.
Villanueva reported that the workers did not know how to use the fire extinguishers that were near the incident, enabling the fire to spread down the building.
However, Villanueva said they had yet to verify this.
As of this writing, he was still getting the statements of the workers present during the incident.
All the workers and residents of the adjacent building were immediately evacuated, and there were no reported casualties or injuries.
“Naa man siyay dako nga pipe from top to bottom. Mao to ang hinungdan nga nakanaog ang kayo,” Villanueva said.
(The building had a big pipe from top to bottom. That was the reason the fire was able to spread to the lower floors.)
He added that the building was still under construction and the sprinklers and the water piping that could have helped to put out the fire were not yet operational at the time.
Villanueva said they would cordon off the area while their investigation is ongoing.