SunStar.com.ph, May 09, 2007
Residents in two sitios in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City were awakened by smoke and flames minutes before dawn Tuesday.
They were just stirring up for a new day when fire broke out at 3:20 a.m.
More than 400 families lost their homes in the blaze that hit Sitios Bato and Katsi-laan. The fire also ate up several stalls where coconuts and bananas were sold. It also destroyed a slaughterhouse.
The fire scene is at the back of Units 1 and 2 of the Carbon public market, separated only by a small alley. Unit 2 was also hit by a fire in 1998.
When the blaze was put under control, 447 families or more than 2,400 individuals were left homeless, according to records from the Ermita Barangay Hall.
The Cebu City Fire Department said about 120 houses were razed, including those of former Ermita barangay captain and Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council executive officer William Miro and councilmen Rodrigo Go, Leopoldo Empedad and Winifredo Miro, brother of William.
No one died or seriously got hurt, but the fire razed about P2.2 million in properties.
Pigs, goats
More than 10 pigs and several goats scheduled for slaughter, however, were burned.
The fire was tapped at 3:20 a.m. and was immediately declared a general alarm. It took firefighters one hour and 25 minutes to stop the fire from spreading to other areas in the barangay.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña will allow Barangay Ermita fire victims to rebuild their homes, saying City Hall will even donate construction materials to them.
“Our policy is that fire should never be an excuse for eviction. Fire should not be used as an excuse to clean out an area (of squatters),” he said.
Tuesday’s incident was the fifth fire to hit the barangay since 1998. The latest was in 2003 when a blaze in Sitio Kawit displaced 38 families.
Goal
Barangay, City Hall, and fire department officials cited obstructions, including a basketball goal in the middle of the road, as the cause why it took fire trucks some time to reach the scene.
Obstructions include stalls of vendors of Carbon market’s Unit 2, which was not yet rebuilt after fire leveled it in 1998.
Superintendent Esmael Codilla said a fire truck stationed near City Hall, which is just a few meters away, immediately rushed to the area after they received the alarm around 3:20 a.m.
But the road leading to the scene was made narrow by stalls, parked vehicles, and fire victims’ belongings that the fire truck had a difficult time reaching the place.
Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta said he flared up when he learned of the basketball goal. He allowed the youth having a night tournament to place it in the middle of the road, provided that it is removed afterwards.
Electric fan
Initial information gathered by the fire department and Rupinta revealed that the fire, which allegedly began at the two-story house owned by Lando Torrefiel, may have been caused by a defective electric fan that overheated.
Rupinta told Sun.Star Cebu Tuesday that at least 10 residents pointed to the house of Torrefiel as the origin of the fire.
Rupinta said he spoke with Torrefiel’s helper and learned from her that the electric fan caused the fire.
But Torrefiel and his son Lloyd lamented why their neighbors are blaming them.
Torrefiel, who sells pork in Carbon market, said he was in Consolacion town and was only informed by his son Larry about the incident.
Torrefiel and Lloyd, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu at the fire scene, said it is very unfair that their neighbors have to blame them for the incident.
They insisted it was an accident.
“They should not accuse us because who would ever want their houses burned. I also lost my house,” an irked Torrefiel said.
Crowd
Because the houses were mostly made of light materials, in less than a minute, the fire quickly spread to the neighboring houses, Rupinta said.
Wind from the sea nearby also fanned the fire.
Fire Marshal Codilla, in a separate interview, complained of the inaccessible road and the rowdy crowd—some tried to grab the hose from the firefighters while some destroyed the pipe lines to get water that caused the pressure of the water to drop during the firefighting.
Parked cargo trucks and things like refrigerators, tables and other valuables that were saved by the residents blocked the fire trucks from penetrating the area, Codilla said.
Codilla also lamented that the water hydrants nearby were no longer serviceable because some people stole them and sold these to junk shops.
Calamity
While Rupinta agreed with Codilla’s observations on the narrow roads and the difficulty of the firefighters in going to the fire scene, he said the hydrants were not stolen but have already dried up.
Rupinta said the victims are temporarily housed inside the barangay sports complex.
He said the residents may rebuild their houses because there is no land conflict in the two sitios that were hit by the fire.
Rupinta was set to meet with the barangay council for an emergency session that will tackle the declaration of the two sitios under the state of calamity.
The fire victims complained that the City Government failed to provide food assistance to them.
Rupinta said the usual packed food City Hall provides arrived only in the afternoon so the barangay had to buy bread for the victims for breakfast and lunch.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo, City action officer, blamed the supplier.
He will propose in Wednesday’s City Council session to declare Ermita under a state of calamity so the City Government could use its calamity fund to help the victims.
