City gov’t determining who’s liable for Naga fire

The Naga City government’s legal team is investigating whether the Naga City Fire Station is liable over the death of three children in a fire at dawn on Tuesday.

Mayor Valdemar Chiong said aside from the investigation, he has also talked to the City Fire Marshal Insp. Heidie Joy Daskeo and listened to her explanation.

Dakeo defended her men, saying that when they received the call for help, it was already 18 minutes after the fire started.

She said the fire started in the living room and was caused by faulty electrical wiring. Because the second floor of the house was made of light materials, the fire easily spread, Dakeo said.

But Chiong said he will wait for the findings of the investigation before issuing a comment.

Agnes Ruiz, the mother of the three children, arrived from Dubai at 11 a.m. yesterday and proceeded immediately to Consolacion town, where the cremation of the bodies of her children was done by the Mount View Funeral Parlor of Barangay Tuyan, Naga City.

According to Simeon Saya-ang, Agnes’s father, while they partly blamed the Naga fire station for the death of his grandchildren, he also blamed their father Alex Ruiz for leaving them alone in the house.

The children — Allison (18), Ace Andre (13) and Angel Lavigne (9) — died after they were trapped at the second floor of their burning house.

Eivyrenz Grey, 15, managed to jump out of the window of his room on the second floor and only sustained minor burns and wounds.

It was their uncle, Jeffrey, who personally went to the fire station to ask for help but nobody answered not until he honked his car’s horn.

Saya-ang said five days ago, the house almost caught fire after the rice cooker plug sparked.

“Signos nato nga dunay dakong mahitabo. Pero wala maminaw ang ilang amahan (That was a sign that something big will happen. But their father did not listen),” he added, citing that the father, who is a drug user, was always away.

Eivyrenz Grey recalled that they were able to pull the plug of their electrical appliances before sleeping on Monday evening. He was the last to go to sleep.

He was sleeping with his brother Ace Andre while his elder sister Allison and their youngest Angel Lavigne were sleeping in a separate room.

Unlike the room of Allison and Angel, Eivyrenz said their room only had fiber glass window, which he said he easily kicked and smashed on his way to escape.

Eivyrenz said he woke up to Allison’s shout and went to check only to find thick black smoke from the fire.  After he managed to escape, he kicked the gate of the compound of his grandfather.

Saya-ang said he wanted to file charges against the fire station after consulting his lawyer.