Many heroes in Bugibba old people’s home blaze
From the outside, Casa San Paolo seems untouched. A cleaner calmly polishes one of the railings on a third-floor balcony, groups of tourists pass by the hotel chattering, mannequins from souvenir shops opposite face the old people’s home statically, emotionless.
Every now and then someone stops to look at the building, but continues walking when they see nothing different.
This seems strange, knowing that the night before media dramatically reported the fire in the old people’s home, as photographs showed the residents being evacuated in haste along Buġibba’s busy ‘Tourists Street’.
However, looking at it a few hours later, life is back to normal, residents inside the home sit at the piano in the hall and look out of the glass window, calmly, life goes on as usual.
Gaetano D’Amico, a resident at the home, had just finished dinner when the alarm started to ring, which he did not think twice about, shrugging it off as “usual routine,” sometimes done just as a check, or when someone accidently burns their toast and smoke is emitted. “But then I saw somebody crying and I asked them what is wrong and they said there is a fire,” he recalled, saying that what could have been a rumour was soon proven to be true.
Assistant Facility Manager Anto Manuel recalls how it was about 5:30pm, and he had just arrived home, when he received a call asking him to go back to Care Malta’s Casa San Paolo, because the fire alarm was ringing repeatedly. By the time Mr Manuel arrived on the scene a few minutes later, the fire brigade was on its way, and the fire in the laundry room, from where the fire seems to have started, produced plenty of smoke, which rose through the laundry chute, in the middle of the building. The fifth floor, out of the home’s seven floors, was the most affected area, as the door of the chute had been left open.
When asked what could have caused the fire, Mr Manuel explained that the house cleaning staff had left at five o’clock and all the machines, as well as the main circuit were off. “So we have no idea how it happened,” he said, “we are waiting for results from investigations.”
“Starting from level five, residents were helped, either evacuated or instructed to go to the sides and corners of the buildings, away from the smoke,” Mr Manuel explained. The residents were taken down to the reception area.
Shortly after, the Qawra Parish Priest came and said that the residents could move to wait in the Church. Meanwhile, staff from other Care Malta homes came to help, residents were taken to other residential homes.
He explained how a good number of tourists and volunteers also jumped to the chance of helping, rushing to level five and bringing the elderly people down, the firefighters and police having told the managerial team that even though the elderly people may have been safe on their floor far away from the smoke source, they still needed to check everywhere and everything.
Curious as to whether the smoke caused a lot of panic for the elderly, Mr Manuel said that the residents were evacuated soon after the smoke was detected. “They came down before the fire got worse,” he said, adding, “it was quickly under control”. Those residents who waited for a while in their balconies, away from the smoke, were reported by the media to have seemed panicked. The latter were helped out from their balconies and downstairs by a number of people when the fifth floor needed to be checked thoroughly.
Once given the go ahead at about 10:30pm, residents usually housed in all levels except level five, who were waiting in the Qawra Church, were given the clearance to go back to their rooms, “only about an hour and a half after their usual time to sleep,” Mr Manuela added.
Mr D’Amico was very thankful for the help given by the staff and other people. “The atmosphere is normal, it is back to routine,” he said. Upon writing, level five residents were still at other homes, waiting for a clearance signal in order for them to go back.