16 dead in Tuguegarao fire
2 MIN READ
By ALMA SINUMLAG WITH REPORTS
www.nordis.net
BAGUIO CITY – A four-hour fire that engulfed a five-storey Bed and Breakfast Pension House in Ugac Sur, Tuguegarao City at dawn of Sunday, December 20 killed 16 hotel guests.
Fire officials reported that ten of the 16 fatalities were recent nursing graduates from the Univesity of La Sallete in Santiago City, Isabela who were in Tuguegarao to take the nursing board exams. Among the 16 fatalities, 15 died on the spot while the other one died in the hospital due to asthma complications.
The fatalities were identified as Jerome Saet, Francis Caranas, Nelman Galapia, Marlon Justine Viernes, Ryan James Malaki, Richard Allan Gonzales, Roswaldo Respicio, Narl Gensan Lopez, Henderson Welle Lodevico, Norman Fondevilla, Amibel Fondevilla, Mildred Fondevilla, Karyll de Leon, Josh de Leon, Jenny (house help), and Julius Gaduang.
Authorities added that aside from the fatalities, 12 were injured and were brought to the hospital and in stable condition in the hospital.
Cagayan Valley deputy regional fire chief Senior Superintendent Sergio Soriano Jr. said the fire originated from an electrical short circuit at the ground floor that was aggravated by combustible materials in a motorcycle shop at the second floor.
He added that the short circuit hit the containers of gasoline. Moreover, earlier reports said that the five-storey Bed and Breakfast Pesion House did not have a Mayor’s permit.
In a live interview of ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol World with mayor Delfin Ting on December 21, said that a requirement for fire safety which is being issued by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) was not submitted by the pension house thus a hold on the release of their permit.
He added that the building had iron bars on all its windows from the 1st floor up to the last floor making it very hard for the guests to jump to a nearby building during the fire. He pointed out that a building as high as the pension house should only have iron bars until the 3rd floor.
On the other hand, Fire Chief Inspector Neil Caranguian of Tuguegarao fire marshall was fired right after the initial investigation showed that they were one almost one hour late in their response to the fire considering their station was just near the pension house.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary, Jesse Robredo on December 21 called for a thorough investigation of the incident to discredit any cause for negligence on the part of the city fire department.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said they have tasked the Department of Social Welfare and Development to attend to the needs of the victims.
Moreover, some of the relatives of the Nursing graduates threw the blame to the university for choosing an unsafe location to house the students. Students who survived the fire still took the exam on the second day.#nordis.net
