Guia Gomez’s building burned

A fire of unknown origin yesterday razed to the ground a one-storey building owned by former actress Guia Gomez, mother of San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito.

The fire not only damaged property estimated at P4 million but also resulted in the death of a San Juan fireman in a freak accident and the injuring of his colleague, arson probers said.

Arson investigator SFO1 Domingo Cabug said the fire broke out at the building owned by Gomez located at 170 A. Mabini St., Barangay Addition Hills at about 12:25 a.m.

The building housed the Gomez-headed Balikatan at Kaunlaran Foundation, which is catering to scholars from poor families. It also contained some 10 to 12 units of computers and handicrafts intended for local and foreign market, witnesses said.

Reports said Gomez was prevented by her illness from rushing to the fire scene. But Ejercito arrived and helped direct firemen in putting out the blaze. The fire was put out at 2:20 a.m.

At the height of the fire, SFO2 Eduardo Antonio, of the San Juan fire department was ran over by a speeding firetruck from the Chinese volunteer brigade based in Ongpin-Gandara in Binondo.

Clad in a dark-blue shirt, Antonio, was not wearing a reflector, that would enable drivers to see him from a distance, especially during night time, Cabug said. He was thrown a few meters away upon impact, witnesses said.

Antonio sustained multiple injuries and died while being operated on at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong City at about 9:12 a.m.

The firetruck driver surrendered but Cabug is withholding his name.

Meanwhile, another fireman, FO2 Felipe Leones was hit by falling debris on the head. He was sent home after treatment at a nearby hospital.

Cabug said they are still determining what triggered the fire.