Fireman’s face burned in 15-hour QC inferno

A firefighter suffered burns on his face while trying to put out a fire in Quezon City that lasted for more than 15 hours Saturday.

Fire Marshal Superintendent Jesus Fernandez identified the injured fireman as Senior Fire Officer 1 Ohedio Asoy, who sustained first-degree burns on his face from “paint thinner flashover” during a fire that started at 12:15 a.m. Saturday at Gateway 2000 Development Corp., a seven-story building on Araneta Avenue in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City.

The fire started on the building’s second floor, a mannequin factory where paint thinner and paint were stored, Fernandez said.

“We were able to contain the fire on the second floor but around 3 a.m., the fire spread through the third and fourth floors,” the fire official said, adding that the fire spread quickly because the third floor was being used to store tarpaulin.

Although 42 fire trucks tried to contain the blaze, the fire reached the building’s seventh floor and was still raging by 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It was hard to put out the fire because the building contained highly combustible materials,” Fernandez said.

The building’s owner, Jobert Go, had leased out the building to different businesses, among them the Gigantic Doodles & Sketches Inc., an auto supply company, and a company that stored medical supplies on the fourth floor. The fifth and sixth floors were being used to store clothes, while the seventh floor served as a sleeping area.

The Quezon City Bureau of Fire had yet to determine the cause of the fire, Fernandez said, adding that workers of the mannequin factory who were around when the fire started would also be interviewed. Rima Granali