In their haste, residents fan the flames

A fire in Makati City turned from bad to worse last Monday night when residents, in the midst of panic and confusion, accidentally threw a mixture of thinner and water at a burning structure, the local fire marshal said.

Superintendent Arsenio Tabajonda Jr., Makati fire marshal, yesterday said they had to use the city’s 14 firetrucks and sought the aid of 30 units from the Filipino-Chinese Fire Volunteer Brigade to contain the blaze.

Initial arson investigation showed the fire on Yabut street in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo started at around 10:43 p.m. and reached the second alarm at 11:15 p.m. before it was declared out by 11:30 p.m.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Residents, in their haste to put out the fire, accidentally used thinner instead of water.

"One of them might have mistakenly filled their pails with thinner from a plastic drum. So instead of dousing the fire, they fanned the flames," Tabajonda said.

When the fire was completely out, the water from the drum was only about a foot high. Tabajonda has ordered his men to take samples of the liquid.

He said only a shanty with small rooms that houses six families was destroyed, while the adjoining bungalow housing a security agency was partially damaged.

Tabajonda said the fire may have been caused by an unattended candle.

"They had no electricity in the area," he said.

Meanwhile, the fire department and the Liga ng mga Barangays in Makati City are set to conduct a house-to-house inspection in 33 barangays.

Mayor Jejomar Binay said that instead of waiting for fire alarms, firemen will be deployed to check and look for fire hazards in residential areas as a preventive measure.

Out of the 55 structural fires last year, 52 were in residential areas. Most fires in 2003 were caused by short-circuits, overloading of electricity and storage of garbage piles in the backyard.