F. Bustamante CES school bldg razed
ONE of Davao City’s old school structures, which had been considered as a cultural heritage at F. Bustamante Central Elementary School (FBCES) in Tibungco, was gutted down after a massive fire razed it on Friday evening, July 20, leaving hundreds of students without a room starting Monday.
Senior Fire Officer 2 Ramil Gillado, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Davao Central Fire District deputy chief of Intelligence Investigation Section, said that about 7:31 p.m., a fire incident occurred in Tibungco, Davao City involving the main building of the school named Gabaldon Building that was constructed in 1930s.
Based on their investigation, Edito Tagbilaran, the duty guard, saw that the fire started at the Alternative Learning System (ALS) room located at the main building under Ramil Sison.
A total of 14 rooms made of wood were totally burned after the blaze spread since the structure was made of light materials. The alarm status was raised to second alarm.
Among burned school facilities were the branch of Davao City library, faculty room, the office of the school principal, property office, Special education classrooms, ALS classrooms, numeracy room and Grade 1 to Grade 3 classrooms.
The newly-built Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporaion (Pagcor) Building was not spared as its all, jalousies, bestank and gutter were also hit.
The estimated damage reached P1.2 million based on the BFP’s manual procedure. No injury nor casualty was reported during the incident. Gillado said the probable cause is electrical short circuit.
“Base sa observation namin, talagang luma na yong building and made of light materials. Possible, dahil sa kalumaan ng kanilang building at electrical installation ay maaring nagkaroon ng damage yong mga wirings. Maaring nagkaroon ng open wire dahil sa kalumaan or kinagat ng insekto o mga daga,” Gillado said.
The fire was put under control around 8:17 p.m. and was declared fire out at 10:14 p.m.. The incident also triggered massive gridlock and several motorists and commuters were stuck on the traffic.