Public urged to immediately call for assistance upon discovery of fire
Screen grab from a netizen’s Facebook live
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – It took almost an hour before the Tuesday morning fire that damaged an establishment in Bogo City was reported to the Bogo City Fire Station.
Fire Officer 1 Ariel Jimenez said the establishment could have been saved had netizens immediately called their office instead of doing Facebook live of the fire incident.
“Ang ato lang is kon naay sunog, maningkamot tang matawagan ang station. Kay ang station nag-agad man gyud ni og tawag. (Our appeal is that in the event of a fire, please make sure to immediately call the fire station. Our station is dependent on the calls for assistance that we receive.) The earlier you will call, the earlier we will response,” said Jimenez.
The fire on Tuesday, September 7, damaged a store located along the national highway in Barangay Dakit that is selling mattresses.
Jimenez said the fire broke at about 9:30 a.m. but it was reported to the Bogo City Fire Station at 10:20 a.m. or almost an hour after.
Instead of calling the fire station, people who saw the fire brought out their cellular phones and did Facebook live.
The establishment was already badly damaged when they arrived, Jimenez said.
Luckily, no one was reported dead or injured in the fire, the cause of which is still under investigation.
In contrast, they were able to immediate put out a dawn fire that happened on the same day in Barangay Sto. Niño.
Jimenez said the house owner immediately called for assistance when the fire broke, the reason why they were able to contain it at the second floor of the three-storey structure, where it was reported to have started.
A stockroom used to store flammables including lotions and perfumes that were for sale were located in that part of the house.
Jimenez said the Bogo City Fire Station has been conducting reccoridas under their “Oplan Ligtas Pamayanan” campaign at least two times daily to constantly remind the public to always be careful especially now that Cebu is still under a pandemic.
Their hotline numbers are also on display in strategic locations in the city’s 29 barangays.
But all their efforts will be wasted if they are unable to solicit the Bogohanons cooperation.
As of September 7, at total of 12 fire incidences were already reported at the Bogo City Fire Station, two of which happened on Tuesday.
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