Fire investigator: Still no trace of missing special boy from dawn fire in Mandaue

The fire that hit Barangay Centro in Mandaue City at past 2 a.m. on February 17, 2020 killed a retired judge and his wife while the body of their grandson with special needs has yet to be found at the fire scene. | Brian Ochoa

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Where is Gerick Gestopa?

Over 12 hours since the fire that razed houses and claimed lives in Zamora Street, Barangay Centro, Mandaue City, the Mandaue City Fire Station (MCFS) still has not found any trace of Gerick, 21, the grandson of Retired Judge Gerardo Gestopa.

Gerick was believed to have been trapped in the second floor of the Gestopas’ home.

The charred bodies of retired Judge Gestopa and his wife, Louella, who went back to their home to find Gerick, were recovered at the fire scene this morning.

Senior Fire officer 2 Edgar Vergara, MCFS chief investigator, told CDN Digital that they had launched a search and retrieval operation for Gerick until past noon today, February 17, 2020.

Read more:Retired judge and wife reportedly among those killed in Mandaue fire

According to Cesar Gestopa, younger brother Gerardo Gestopa, the 67-year-old retired judge already made it out of their house but went back inside as Gerick, who is a child with special needs, refused to go out.

Gerick, according to Cesar, was afraid of hot objects, prompting him not to go out while the fire was razing their neighborhood.

The fire that broke out around 2 a.m. of February 17, 2020, burned down at least 15 houses. The fire was raised to fourth alarm and was declared fire out at past 4 a.m.

Fire investigator and relatives of the retired judge and his wife who were killed by the dawn fire in Barangay Centro are hoping that their grandchild has made it out alive. | Rosalie O. Abatayo

Read more: Brgy Tabok fire burns 150 homes

“At 1 p.m., we had to pull out our personnel because another fire broke out in Barangay Tabok. Until now, we have not found him,” Vergara told CDN Digital via phone.

Around 150 houses were razed by the second fire that hit Mandaue City in Barangay Tabok  11 hours after fire hit Barangay Centro.

Vergara of the Mandaue City Fire Department said narrow roads and passages remained their greatest obstacle in responding to the fire.

“Dili kaayo makasulod ang mga fire truck. Ang atong fire truck ang gibuhat ani nag-relay na lang, ang uban nag-feed na lang sa mga gagmay nga firetruck nga makasulod,” Vergara said.

(Our firetrucks had difficulty getting to the area. So what we did was to allow our smaller firetrucks to enter the area and just feed those small firetrucks with water from our bigger firetrucks.)

Firefighters survey the fire scene in Barangay Tabok in the afternoon of February 17, 2020. | Raul Tabanao

“Sa Mandaue, siguro road re-blocking ang kinahanglan. Tungod sa kagagmay sa agianan, nagsugat-sugat gyud ni ang mga bombero ug ang mga tagbalay nga nasunogan nga naghakot sa ilang mga gamit,” Vergara said.

(In Mandaue, I think these areas would need to be reblocked because the roads are really small. The firetrucks and the fire victims bringing their things out of the area had to share the small road going to the fire scene.)

The small road leading to the fire scene in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City has been a challenge for firefighters, who have to implement a relay of fire hoses and fire trucks to put out the fire in the area. | Raul Tabanao

The fire alarm, which was reported at 1 p.m., was raised to Task Force Alpha at 1:44 p.m. It was declared under control at 2:24 p.m. and was declared fire out at 4:06 p.m.

The fire authorities pegged the damage from the two fire incidents at about P635,000./dbs