Fire eats up school building, report cards

Teachers of a school in Antipolo City now face a major problem after a fire broke out in one of the buildings on Monday morning, destroying the faculty room which contained their students’ report cards.

The blaze started before 6 a.m. in one of the two buildings of Lady Charity School, a pre-school and elementary learning institution in Barangay San Luis.

Arson investigator SFO1 Gerardo Lopez said that based on interviews with the teachers, the school’s graduation ceremonies took place on Saturday but they had yet to give out the students’ report cards.

“All the school records are gone. The entire building was destroyed,” said Marco Albaño, a volunteer of the city’s fire brigade who was among those who responded.

Aside from the faculty room, Lopez said a library, kitchen and multipurpose hall, among others, were also burnt. The blaze which reached the first alarm was put out at 6:45 a.m.

Authorities initially estimated the damage to property at P500,000, but the figure, Lopez said, could have been lower if the fire had been reported earlier.

According to him, an employee of city hall reported the incident to them. “The school doesn’t have a security guard,” he added.

FO1 Allan Onte added that it took some time for the blaze to be put out because firemen found it hard to get into the building. Authorities said they were looking at the possibility that the fire started in the kitchen due to a short-circuit.