Metro Manila (CNN Philippine, April 15) — A massive fire razed an unfinished high-rise condominium building in Cebu City and left around ₱3.9 billion in damage, authorities reported on Friday.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection in Central Visayas (BFP-7), it began on the 37th floor of the Grand Residences’ Tower 4 along M. J. Cuenco Avenue in Barangay Kasambagan at around 2:40 PM.
BFP-7 spokesperson Senior Fire Officer Wendell Villanueva said the flames may have been caused by a welding activity and spread via utility pipes from higher floors down.
Villanueva also said there was difficulty in combating the fire because firefighter ladders were only able to reach up to the 18th floor of the building.
He added that from the seventh floor down were supposed to be parking spaces but were temporarily used as storage for paints and other highly combustible materials.
All floors of the building were covered with smoke while flames were visible from the second to sixth floor.
Tower 4 is still due for turnover and is still being furnished with finishing touches. All the other buildings of the Grand Residences condominium complex were safe from the fire.
Nearby Tower 3 was fully occupied during the blaze but its residents were safely evacuated. The construction workers at Tower 4 were also safely evacuated and accounted for.
‘9’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:e7689ac1-0fc4-4e97-a977-39887d50a875’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Authorities note that while they needed more aerial ladders, the fire in the unfinished high-rise condominium building in Cebu City could have easily been extinguished if its sprinkler and other anti-fire system
Fire safety systems
Villanueva noted that while BFP-7 needed more aerial ladders, the fire in Tower 4 could have easily been extinguished if its sprinkler and other anti-fire system were already operational.
Some 30 firefighters, he said, were able to reach the top floors but were later on asked to evacuate when the thick smoke and flames spread to lower floors.
In an interview, Cebu City Mayor Michale Rama said he will meet with all building owners in the city to talk about improving fire safety systems.
Rama said they are also looking at modern technology from other countries which are used in handling fire in high-rise buildings.
The blaze was declared under control by the Cebu City Fire Department at 7:50 p.m but the firefighters were still trying to extinguish the flames as of 9 p.m.
The management of Grand Residences has yet to issue a statement.
