3 Villasis firemen sacked for dereliction of duty
FIRE DESTROYS 10 CLASSROOMS
VILLASIS—The town’s three firemen were relieved from duty after they failed to respond to a fire that gutted classrooms of the Unzad National High School, some five kilometers away from the town proper, at about 10:30 p.m. of October 12.
Sr. Supt. Leonardo Consolacion of the Bureau of Fire Protection provincial office in Lingayen ordered the relief of F03 Gustavio Gonzales, FO1 Norberto Recarde and FO4 Melan Pangan, the town fire marshal.
An investigation conducted by Chief inspector Jesus Manalo Jr., chief of police of Villasis, revealed that when Gonzales and Recarde finally arrived the following morning, both were drunk.
Gonzales and Recarde were supposedly on duty at that time while Pangan was reportedly on-leave.
Consolacion said the three were relieved while an investigation on the case filed against them for neglect of duty is ongoing.
Villasis Mayor Libradita Abrenica, who personally sought the investigation, expressed anger over the tragedy, which has displaced some 300 students.
Based on the report of the Villasis Police, which received frantic calls from residents of Barangay Unzad, the fire station was completely unmanned.
On finding out that the fire station was unmanned, the police rushed to the station and attempted to drive the fire engine but failed to find the key.
The policemen then called for help from fire stations in adjacent towns.
But the blaze was already beyond control when firemen from Urdaneta City, Malasiqui, Rosales, Asingan and Binalonan arrived at the scene.
Manalo had the two fire personnel undergo alcoholic breath test at the Amadeo Perez Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Urdaneta which found them positive of alcohol.
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