Why firefighters took two hours to put out Ermita fire
Firefighters battle the fire in Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita. | Photo by Benjie Talisic
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Narrow roads, and lack of water made it difficult for firefighters to put out the fire that engulfed three sitios in Barangay Ermita, Tuesday afternoon.
Fire Senior Superintendent Gilbert Dolot, director of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Central Visayas (BFP -7), said it took them nearly two hours to put the flames under control.
Read:Fire razes at least 100 houses in 3 sitios in Ermita, Cebu City
“The flames, based on our initial investigations, originated from a house owned by a certain Ronron Sarmiento. Madali nagspread yung flames kasi most of the houses are made of light materials,” Dolot said.
Dolot was referring to Sarmiento’s house which was located in Sitio Bato of Barangay Ermita. The fire quickly spread from Sitio Bato to two other sitios of the barangay — Sitios Vendor and Kastilaan — destroying at least a hundred houses.
LOOK: More images from the Ermita fire in Cebu City
“Masikip yung daan at one point, naubusan na yung tubig yung ibang fire trucks natin. Hindi naman lahat naubusan,” said Dolot about the challenge of putting out the fire.
He said that there were no fire hydrants in the area but they had the big water tankers.
LOOK: Scenes from Ermita fire
However, he said that they were, for a time there, overwhelmed by the size of the fire.
The fire alarm was received at 1:15 p.m.. It was raised to general alarm at 2:22 p.m. wherein all firetrucks in Cebu province are needed to douse the flames.
It was placed under control at 3:07 p.m./dbs
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