Manilans told: Intensify fire prevention

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo on Wednesday reiterated calls for residents to be cautious of fire hazards following two recent incidents in the city.

This as Lacuna and Servo distributed food and financial assistance to victims of a fire that struck San Andres, Manila. The following day, they were scheduled to hand out cash assistance to fire victims from Sta. Ana.

Manila social welfare department chief Re Fugoso said the preparation for the Sta. Ana fire victims’ cash assistance took longer due to the large number of affected families, estimated to be around 300.

In each fire incident, the city government provides assistance of P10,000 per family. Lacuna said the amount may not be substantial, but it is a gesture of support to help affected residents start anew.

To recall, two firefighters were injured when a structure collapsed during a fire in Sta. Ana on Monday morning. The victims, identified as SFO3 Cristina Carolino and FO2 Rey Leonard Diel, were pinned by the collapsing structure. A civilian, identified as Bonmar Suizon, also suffered injuries.

The fire started at the third floor of a house situated at 2515 Radium Steet, Sta. Ana, owned by Ms. Lourdes Co. It reached a fourth alarm before being declared under control at 12:09 p.m. Around 100 houses were damaged in the fire, leaving approximately 300 families homeless. The estimated cost of damage is around P3 million. Arson investigators are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.