THE local Bureau of Fire Protection found violations against fire safety standards on the three-storey Maya Emporium and General Merchandise building that was gutted by a blaze lasting more than 12 hours on February 6.

Fire Chief Inspector Emilio Langcay, fire marshal of Dagupan, speaking before the city council, said several safety standards laid out in Section 8-A of Presidential Decree No. 1185 were not followed in the building owned by a Fil- Indian family.

Langcay said firefighting efforts was also slowed down because the building had no ventilation system, which contributed largely to the lateral spread of the fire.

The building also had no fire alarm and detection system, a speaker system and a stand by pipe as required in the fire code.

It also had no connection to the fire department which is required for neither buildings more than two floors high nor an alternative sprinkler system.

Aggravating the situation for the the Dagupan City Fire Station, Langcay said the department lacked vital equipment such as a self-contained breathing apparatus, which would have enabled firemen to penetrate a burning building engulfed with thick black smoke.

The relatively new building was last inspected on September 23, 2008 and Langcay hinted that his predecessor, Aquilino Paras, may have committed negligence when he failed to see the defects of the building.

The city council is conducting an investigation on the failure of the fire department to contain and put out the fire and took firefighters 12 hours for to put out the blaze, and to determine remedial measures by way of legislation to improve firefighting capabilities of the local fire station.

The fire marshal also confirmed that the third floor of the building was converted as a residential area while the second floor was used as a storage area for computers and other electrical appliances.

NARROW
ESCAPE

People who were living on the third floor took the stairs to the second floor and used a narrow opening of an air-conditioner in the absence of a fire escape to get out of the burning building.

Langcay said the blaze destroyed properties initially estimated at P15 million, although there were other reports which indicate that the damages could reach P50 million.

The blaze broke out at 1:25 p.m. on February 6 and was put under control at 2:00 a.m. the following day.

Combined firefighters from Dagupan, adjacent towns of Pangasinan and volunteer firefighting brigades helped control the blaze but it was the better-equipped firemen from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) who really contained the fire.—LM

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