Ex-fire chief denies being drunk during mall action

The recently sacked fire marshal of Caloocan City, who drew flak over last week’s 82-hour fire that gutted Ever Gotesco Grand Central mall, has asked Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to reconsider his relief order.

Supt. Oscar de Asis, now detailed at the director’s office of the Bureau of Fire Protection-National Capital Region, yesterday said he had sent a letter to Robredo denying, among others, that he was drunk when he and his men responded to the fire.

De Asis said this allegation came from a disgruntled fireman whom he earlier relieved of his post, and that the mall’s security guards could confirm that he spent long hours in the operation to put fire
under control.

De Asis was replaced by Supt. Jeremy Diaz, former Antipolo City fire marshal, as officer in charge of the Caloocan fire department. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

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