A sad but proud moment
Watching through the Facebook live feed the fire tearing through the Metro Ayala department store in Cebu Business Park evoked both sadness and beautiful memories. It was like saying goodbye to an old-time member of the Cebu family.
"Got quite teary-eyed when I saw, right before my very eyes, Metro Ayala engulfed in flames," wrote a friend Cristina on Facebook. Metro Ayala, as it is popularly known, was a witness to our years as struggling students and young professionals and to countless rendezvous with family and friends.
The sad parting may be short-lived as the Metro Retail Stores Group Inc., the owner of the department store, vowed that a better Metro will rise again.
Thankfully, the fire claimed no casualties. Credit goes to the store's emergency response procedure in place. We are also grateful to the firefighters from all over Cebu whose work in battling the fire since Friday was streamed live on Facebook by different media organizations.
In this day and age, the community can now closely watch such incidents unfold through live streaming. Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Chief Nagiel Bañacia was also present to give regular updates to members of the media. He informed netizens about the outpouring of food donations the crisis responders were receiving from nearby business establishments.
At the start, netizens who were monitoring the incident were hoping the fire would be quickly doused. But the difficulty in putting fire under control in a massive enclosed structure became apparent as the hours went by.
Firefighters had to tear down several sections of the outer wall of the building for their water spray to penetrate. They also found it impossible to go inside the building because of the thick smoke and inferno-like heat.
The cost of the inconvenience caused by this fire incident and its aftermath is enormous. Although temporary, the haze that blanketed nearby areas toward as far as the reclamation area has caused respiratory and eye irritations to commuters and residents. Workers of nearby call centers also complained of the smoke penetrating their office buildings.
Business establishments at the Ayala Center Cebu and nearby areas are also suffering the losses of the temporary shutdown. This is not to mention the directly affected workers of the Metro Ayala department store and supermarket despite the assurance of the management to take care of all employees affected.
Thus, as we await the official findings, we urge the authorities to cover everything in the book on fire investigation. Their work is vital because it will not only pinpoint mistakes, it can also add new inputs to safety regulations in order to prevent or limit the damage caused by similar incidents in the future.
On a positive note, lessons can be learned on how the Metro Ayala department store and the Ayala Center Cebu mall quickly and effectively responded to the alarm which resulted in zero casualties. Effective disaster response is a result of years of careful planning and regular drills or systems checks.
As the fire raged on, there was also an atmosphere of shared humanity and community solidarity that one can feel every time a disaster hits Cebu. It makes us once again proud to be part of this community.
‘There was an atmosphere of shared humanity and
community solidarity that one can feel every time a
disaster hits Cebu’