Theme park probe moves to BFP

The Pasay City Fire Marshall has turned over to investigators in the national headquarters of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) documents and findings about its investigation into the fire that gutted Star City last week.

Fire Marshall Paul Pili said the national investigators will be led by Supt. Romeo Pepito, chief of the BFP Investigation and Intelligence Division.

One reason why the probe is being forwarded to headquarters is the estimated amount of damage from the incident.

“The jurisdiction of the city level is only up to P40 million, with the regional only up to P50 million. If damage is from P60 million and above, it goes to the national headquarters,” Pili explained.

While there is no final conclusion of arson yet, he said probers often approach a fire scene with this in mind.

“An investigator is always thinking of reasons,” Pili said. “Searching for possible cases of arson is his mandate.”

The Pasay fire marshall pointed out that there was a huge amount of gasoline in the fire scene, which could be an indicator that the blaze was intentional.

“With the volume of gasoline that we found, even an ordinary person will wonder about it,” he said.

Star City spokesman Atty. Rudolph Steve Jularbal said the presence of gasoline in the theme park was due to some rides, such as Bumper Boat, being run on it.

Jularbal stressed there was no reason to believe that arson was behind the fire.

“We are not aware of any motive, including financial gain, that would induce the commission of arson, specially on the part of Star City as the business is profitable and a bumper Christmas season was expected,” he added.