Firemen spend Christmas battling mall fire: ‘Grabe ka kapoy’

WHILE  people celebrated Christmas Day with their families, firefighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection spent it with  smoke, soot,  and water hoses at the  Gasiano Capital South mall fire that took five days to put out.

The fire broke out after midnight, two days before Christmas.

He said it was his  “worst Christmas,”  but 27-year-old FOI Phylvenn Elumir said he was still happy to be able to help.

“Nindot ug lingaw among Christmas,” Elumir said. (Our Christmas was  also fun.)

The mall caught fire at 12:42 a.m. on Dec. 23.

Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar declared a “total fire out” just yesterday.

Elumir, an electrical engineer from Negros Oriental, said he had always wanted to be a fireman as a boy. He’s the son of a retired policeman and teacher.

In his four years of service, he said the Gaisano fire was his toughest assignment.

“Mao toy pinaka-grabe nga akong na-encounter.  My experience was extra-ordinary. Lahi jud among pagpanerbisyo ato nga time,” Elumir said.

He said it was easier to fight fires in slum areas, which are  open areas.

The seven-story mall was dark inside and full of smoke, forcing them to use breathing apparatus.

Elumir said the Robinsons Place mall fire in Fuente Osmeña last April 17 was an easier job because it  happened in daytime.

There was enough light through the  glass windows for them to do their work.

Elumir said  poor ventilation and access to the Gaisano Capital South Mall posed a big challenge, aside from  their lack of modern firefighting equipment.

“Kinahanglan jud ta mag-update sa atong equipment. The fire trucks need maintenance. We need high-tech equipment. Among gikaya ug gi-work out,” Elumir said.

(We made do with what we had.)

FO1 Ismael Pero, 29, said he  felt a sense of fulfillment helping put out the fire in Gaisano Capital South even if it meant his absence in the  family gathering for Christmas Day.

Pero, a native of of Hilongos, Leyte province, has been a fireman for two years.

“Grabe kakapoy. Confined ang area. Lisud kay dili open,” Pero recalled.

(It was exhausting. The area was a confined space.)

When his team reached the mall’s sixth and seventh floors, he said they were afraid  the building would collapse.

“We lack equipment like the breathing apparatus and  tools   to destroy the doors.” said Pero.

“We just used our axes.” /Rhea Ruth V. Rosell, Correspondent