BFP official takes up cudgels for elderly couple in CDO fire

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- A Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) official has asked the fire victims in Barangay Puntod, this city, on Saturday (Aug. 17) not to take legal action against the elderly couple who were tagged as responsible for the blaze.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Samson Velarde said the fire originated at the kitchen of Apolinario Diaz, 74, and his wife Leoncia, 68, at about 8:50 a.m. “Fire out” was declared at 11:14 a.m.

He said Leoncia left the rice she was cooking to attend to another chore, resulting in the fire that quickly spread in their makeshift house and neighboring residences.

“Leoncia called her husband and tried to put out the fire but they could no longer extinguish it. They ran away as their whole house was eaten up by the flame,” Velarde said.

Among those injured in the incident were the Diaz couple, Sherwin Tahuyan, 39, and Richard Capahigal, 26.

“All those injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. They sustained minor burns,” Velarde said.

Most of the houses in the area are made of light and highly flammable materials.

The Diazes could be held liable for the fire and could be charged with criminal negligence, but Velarde said neighbors who lost their homes and properties should consider their age before planning on taking any legal action.

The BFP and City Social Welfare and Development Office estimated that close to a hundred families were rendered homeless as the conflagration also spread to a neighborhood in Barangay Lapasan.

It was also fortunate, Velarde said, that the fire was contained before it could reach the nearby fuel depot and the seaport.

“There was a danger that the flame could spread to the depot, but we sized up the situation immediately, and positioned several fire trucks between the burning houses and the fuel facility,” he said.

Velarde said they initiated “cover exposure” right away by dousing the depot premises with water even before the flame could reach the area.

He said the port authority and the fuel depot management coordinated with the BFP and deployed their own fire trucks to help.

Velarde advised the fuel company to extend its firewall so that it would exceed the height of its fuel tanks. (PNA)

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