Cebu store fire to burn for 3 more days

Firefighters arrive at Metro Department Store in Cebu Business Park on Friday night. —DALE ISRAEL

CEBU CITY — The sprinklers and fire alarm system of a department store at Cebu Business Park here that caught fire and was expected to continue to burn for up to three more days failed, raising suspicion among fire investigators and prompting a probe into whether management of Metro Department Store violated fire safety rules.

Supt. Ronaldo Orbeta, deputy director for operations of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Central Visayas and ground commander, said BFP received reports that the department store’s sprinklers and fire alarm system did not work.

“We’re conducting an investigation to determine whether or not there were violations,” Orbeta said in an interview.

But lawyer Vincent Tomaneng, legal officer of Metro owner Vicsal Development Corp., said he would not comment on the reports because an investigation was ongoing.

“Let’s not speculate,” Tomaneng said.

Where the fire started

Orbeta said investigators would query persons who were in the storage room of Metro where the fire started.

But Orbeta said BFP had yet to determine the cause of the fire that destroyed the department store’s five floors. No damage estimate had been made.

“What we can say for now is that there are no injured persons or any casualties due to the fire,” Orbeta said.

While the fire at Metro, which is connected to Ayala Center Cebu mall, had been “contained in the area” by 1 p.m. on Saturday since it started 15 hours earlier, it continued to rage.

Other establishments near Metro had been closed and evacuated.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) had issued a haze alert on Saturday because of the fire.

Thick smoke enveloped most of Cebu Business Park. The city health department distributed face masks.

Firefighters drilled Metro’s walls and roofs to let air out and serve as ventilation.

Highest alert

The fire broke out around 9:44 p.m. from the storage room of the toy section on the third floor. It spread to other floors.

Metro’s basements and ground floor were spared from the flames.

The fire department raised the alarm to Task Force Bravo, which meant all fires stations in Cebu province were told to help fight the Metro fire. At least 50 fire trucks responded to the alarm.

Orbeta, the regional BFP chief, said firefighters had no “breathing apparatus” and worked through zero visibility inside Metro “which was an enclosed space.”

Orbeta said the fire was expected to be out in up to three days.

Drilling holes on walls and the roof of Metro, he said, was to allow air out and firefighters to penetrate the burning structure.

“We tried our best to contain the fire so that it won’t spread to adjacent establishments,” he said.

Everyone safe

Nigel Bañacia, head of the CDRRMO, said it was possible Metro’s sprinklers malfunctioned during the fire.

“Sprinkling systems are installed in enclosed areas so that when they detect heat, they will automatically splash water over the place,” Bañacia said.

“Had the Metro sprinklers functioned, the damage would not have been this bad,” he said. —With a report from Morexette Marie Erram