NewsRecord Weekly Publication

March 1 to 10, 2015

Caballero Subdivision Tragedy

Fire victims point neighbor 

Georgene Rhena Quilaton-Tambiga

The fire that razed at least 50 houses in Caballero Subdivision and Endrina Street (the area that is still part of Barangay II) has started in the house of a suspected drug user. 

3-Hour Ordeal. A firefighter and two volunteers attack the fire that is consuming a house with a little store just beside a warehouse on Endrina Street, Corner National Highway while City Mayor Ginggo Valmayor looks on.

                    To ashes. A firefighter tries to put out the fire

                    in the house of retired teacher Julieta Dela Rosa.   

                                     

Based on eye-witness accounts of the fire that broke last March 7, at around 4 A.M., fire started in the house of JR Santillan. But, no one is able to tell how it happened since many have awakened to a raging fire and they have only afforded to save their lives. 

Santillan is a suspected drug user.

“Ingon nila sa balay kuno ni JR Santillan… Mao kunoy sinugdanan,” said Gina Entirino, a 23 year-old mother of a preschooler. Entirino added that she and some neighbors observed that Santillan was no longer himself even before the fire broke. 

Virginia Dela Torre, 54, another victim, told NRWP that Santillan did not shout to send an alarm to his neighbors that his house was on fire. Dela Torre was only awakened when another neighbor was already shouting but by then the fire has caught the house next to Santillan’s.

“Pagmata nako, ni-ulbo na man. Kana si JR gitan-aw ra niya iyang balay nga nasunog. Wala gyud siya misinggit or namukaw sa silingan.” Dela Torre recalled. 

She added that Santillan is single and lived alone in the house since his parents died but often received suspicious visitors during the wee hours of the night. He is now in the custody of the San Carlos City Police Office (SCCPO).

Embers and ashes.

Entirino further verified that during the thick of the tragedy that burned their belongings into ashes several explosions were heard. This sent many of her neighbors into panic and prevented them from saving things from their houses. The nature or source of the explosions are not known though.

The radio fire base of the Bureau of Fire Protection San Carlos (BFP-SC) received the alarm at 4:40 in the morning of March 7 but the fire was rapidly spreading. Since most houses were made of light materials and wood, it easily consumed one house after another and even the houses on the other side of the block on Endrina Street near the corner to the highway. 

Based on initial investigation that the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) and Barangay II conducted on the day of the incident, 50 houses were destroyed including the one owned by Julieta Dela Rosa, a retired private school teacher. 

Dela Rosa’s house on Endrina Street was caught since the wind was strongly blowing the fire to its direction. Firefighting volunteers from Biopower were not able to save it after a prolonged trouble pulling the water hose from its receptacle. The volunteers were able to spray water but by then the fire has consumed 75 percent of the house.

The teacher, like many of her fellow victims, was not able save anything except a small statue of the Sto. Niño.

Around 150 to 200 individuals were left homeless. Some of them are now occupying classrooms in Ramon Magsaysay Elementary School (RMES) while others were taken to shelter by relatives and family members. 

Joe Recalix Alingasa, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), reported zero casualty although three elderly victims were rescued due to hypertension.

Alingasa told NRWP that the recent tragedy is ought to give a lesson since there is still a lapse in coordination. He added that BFP San Carlos called CDRRMO’s radio Delta Base asking if the staff there have contact with other fire fighting volunteers in the city.

This prolonged the response and action of groups that included Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce Fire Brigade, Biopower, San Carlos Bio-ethanol, Inc., and Hacienda Vascoña. Calatrava and Vallehermoso Fire Stations also sent a truck each and firemen to help put out the fire. 

As of the writing of this report, FO1 Ricardo Catalan, ground commander for BFP San Carlos, was not yet able to draw a conclusion on the origin of the fire and on the exact number and cost of the damage. 

Meanwhile, CSWDO and Barangay II are working closely in providing food and basic needs for the victims who are now in RMES. Alingasa announced that donations of food, water, sleeping mats and pillows are welcome and may be directly submitted to CSWDO.