Reports on burning of hotel cause alarm

CEBU, Philippines - Many people were alarmed yesterday after hearing reports that one of the posh hotels in the city, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, was on fire.

This prompted the management of the hotel to immediately call for a press conference to clarify the unconfirmed reports.

It was learned that the fire only affected the Visayan Electric Company’s power substation located some 10 meters away from a restaurant adjacent to the hotel.

In a press conference, Marco Protacio, Waterfront Hotel’s area general manager for Visayas and Mindanao, said that before the fire, they heard a loud explosion around 8:45 a.m. which they later learned was from a transformer of the power substation.

The substation, which supplies 6 mega volt-amperes of power to the hotel, was constructed in the area about four years ago.

The fire was controlled around 9 a.m., or in only about 15 minutes, as firefighters from Barangay Lahug Fire Department, who were supposedly on their way to a “Fire Olympics” in Ayala, were quick to response to the area.

Only a portion of the concrete power substation was burned and damage was pegged at P200,000 fire investigators said. However, follow up investigation is still being conducted to determine the cause of the explosion.

VECO spokesperson Ethel Natera told The FREEMAN that aside from the hotel, the incident has also caused power interruptions in neighboring areas being served by the substation that include a portion of Lahug, Hipodromo, Luz, Capitol Site, Camputhaw, Sambag II, and Guadalupe.

The power supply in these areas went back to normal 15 minutes after the incident.

Protacio assured the public that the fire was just very minor and that things immediately got back to normal.

“We assure the public that everything is under control. Waterfront is a very safe place and things are back to normal,” he stressed, adding that big companies like them are prepared for contingencies like fire.

Jonathan Ho, the hotel’s chief security officer, confirmed that there was no major damage done and none of the guests were inconvenienced or injured. Their operations were also not hampered, he added.

Ho said the whole hotel experienced power outage in just two minutes as they were able to immediately operate their generator. –Niña G. Sumacot/WAB   (FREEMAN NEWS)