Fire prevention project for Barangay Suba mulled

Residents of Barangay Suba flee from the burning house. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

THE Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) has proposed a community-based fire prevention system in Barangay Suba following two successive fires which hit the densely populated village within just weeks.

CCDRRMO proposed the installation of a water tank in the middle of the community to provide a first line of defense against fire incidents as the narrow roads have made it difficult for fire trucks to quickly access areas.

According to the plan, the residents could use the water tank during fires and also as a storage facility during El Niño in the summer season.

The city government also plans to provide a fire extinguisher and a generator set to the barangay.

Fire victims of Barangay Suba welcomed the idea of a community-based fire prevention system project.

After consultation last Saturday, Genevieve Alcoseba of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) said they made sure that the residents understood the purpose of the project.

“That project is prevention. We would not let them experience another fire incident. This has been the second time,” she said.

Sitio Wakwak, where a blaze last Nov. 21 affected at least 80 houses, barely has a pathway as beneficiaries of the city’s Slum Improvement and Resettlement (SIR) project living in the area have encroached on the road.

“The encroachment is too much. The pathway is lost,” Alcoseba said.

The technical team of DWUP will conduct a total station survey to determine the exact measurement of the home lots.

“We need a fresh data based on the SIR record,” she said.

But Alcoseba said that the structures and debris left by the fire must be cleared first.

“Our technical team cannot survey with the structures,” she said. Alcoseba said the initial plan of the CCDRRMO was to provide a temporary shelter facility in front of the Cebu City Fish Market. This will be the fire victims’ home for at least two months while the clearing operation is ongoing.

Alcoseba said the temporary shelter, though tent-type, would be decent.

“The soonest possible time is the target because we don’t want them to celebrate Christmas in the temporary shelter,” she said.

The fire in Sitio Wakwak was reportedly caused by a busted liquified petroleum gas (LPG) tank while another fire, last Oct. 25, still in Barangay Suba, was caused by a candle left burning on top of a monobloc chair. The blaze gutted down close to 70 houses.