Jolo’s biggest fire in decades brings back nightmare of 1974 war

Dark smoke billows from villages in Jolo, Sulu province, consumed by fire which authorities said destroyed up to 10,000 hectares of land. —TOTO DORONILLA

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Authorities were rushing to bring aid to at least 30,000 residents of Jolo, Sulu, and trying to ease fears of a repeat of the 1974 Burning of Jolo following a fire that tore through three villages and destroyed nearly 3,000 houses.

Hassanal Tulawie, assistant municipal social welfare and development officer of Jolo, said the government was distributing aid to at least 20,000 who had already registered for aid.

Tulawie said thousands more were still being registered for aid after they lost homes and valuables to Jolo’s biggest fire in decades.

The fire tore through the villages of Lambayong, Busbus and Walled City on Tuesday.

Fatima Isnani, 60, one of the fire victims, said it was the “biggest fire since 1974.”

War fear

“My elderly parents were all crying in fear,” she said.

“We thought war is looming and I wonder why it took more than 10 hours before they can put off the fire,” she said.

“I pray that this is not orchestrated,” Isnani said. “Right now, I cannot even imagine how two fires sparked at the same time in two opposite barangays.”

Displaced families

Gov. Mujiv Hataman, of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), went to the disaster scene on Wednesday and described it as a catastrophe.

He said he flew over the area and it was estimated that up to 10,000 hectares “have been eaten by fire.”

“The poor displaced families need all the help now,” Hataman said.

He said authorities initially distributed 25 kilograms of rice per family and cash “for their temporary subsistence.”

Needs

“Our people need clothing, medicines, blankets, food,” Hataman said in a phone interview.

Tulawie said shelters and evacuation sites were bursting at the seams with evacuees displaced by the fire.

He said shelters were very hot during the day and very cold at night. “We worry about the health of the evacuees,” Tulawie said.

He said at least 2,900 family heads, with 19,507 dependents, registered for aid. More than 1,000 families have yet to be registered on Thursday.

The evacuees were housed in a tennis court, a primary school, a village hall and a gym converted into shelters.

He said one elderly evacuee was brought to a hospital for “heart palpitations.”

Marines’ help

Col. Hernani Songano, deputy commander of the Philippine Marines, said the Philippine Marine Ready Force in Sulu, under Col. Armel Tolato, had sent boats to rescue hundreds of villagers trapped in the shoreline as exit routes to the mainland had been destroyed by fire.

Psychosocial debriefing

Tulawie said villagers needed psychosocial debriefing due to recurring fears of a return of the 1974 Burning of Jolo where 2,600 homes were destroyed and thousands of families were displaced at the height of the war between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front.

The Bureau of Fire was still looking into the cause of fire, which some claimed to have started in two places along the coast of Lambayong and Walled City and spread to Busbus.

The ARMM government counted 2,600 homes razed to the ground as the fire was finally put out on Wednesday, July 25.

Supt. Salbino Piad, chief of the Provincial Maritime Police in Sulu, said the fire started around 3 p.m. at Walled City.

Strong winds helped spread the fire. — JULIE ALIPALA