Fire in Barangay Don Bosco, Paranaque City

A huge fire broke out yesterday at around 3 in the afternoon. It was by chance I heard the sirens because I went to the craft room just before 4pm. We couldn't hear it from the family room where we normally hang out during the day. Told Sweetie and Miggy about it, we went out to investigate. 

Huge black smoke billowing nearby. I immediately checked Twitter to find out the location. It was Santos Compound, a residential area across McDonald's. Found out where it was from a friend. She said her cleaner called her up to tell her their area was on fire. 

Sweetie and Miggy realized I wasn't wearing a mask so I had to go back inside. We thought the fire had ended already at around 5pm. The smoke started to turn gray and white. Eagerly awaited a fire out announcement, but none was made. By six, the smoke grew again and started to go black. 

Continued to monitor the situation and found a Livestream by someone from DSWD. I heard from that video and other videos that water would run out. It's not surprising because a lot of water is required to meet the pressure requirement of the hose. We were told by BFP that firetrucks would form a chain so they can transfer water across trucks. 

We were really anxious because the fire was just 350 meters away. It looked closer because some of the videos we watched looked like it was just behind the house across our place. I only calmed down after looking at Google Maps. 

My heartfelt gratitude to the firefighters who bravely faced the fire. Saw a video where they were battling 2-storey+ high flames. The firemen were on top of a roof. Their comrades shouting from the ground to be careful since they also had to control the hose. The house was saved by its tall firewall. On the ground one of the firemen was scooping water from the street trying to save a dog. They had a hard time because the compound was not that accessible. They surrounded the area through the subdivisions surrounding the compound.

I hope and pray no one was hurt and that the families affected will soon recover. I'll update this post once I find where to send donations. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Fire Behind Our House

It smelled like someone lit a candle when I stepped out of the shower. It lingered and I thought Sweetie lit a candle. I peeked in the bedroom and he wasn't there, so I thought a relative from heaven was visiting. I looked out the window and was surprised to see a lot of smoke. It was then I heard a commotion outside. I then went out of the bedroom to tell Sweetie that there was probably a fire at the back of our house. 

He immediately went outside since he saw the neighbors pointing at our roof. At that time I called my friend whose house is adjacent to us. I told him to check since it looked like there was a fire at their house. After that Sweetie turned off our electricity and told us to bring important stuff and head to the car. It was best to evacuate the house for safety. I only got my hand bag, all my medications and important documents. 

I was already coughing badly because of the smoke by the time we got out of the house. Sweetie parked the car across the street. I prayed hard as I watched smoke billow out from behind our house. I prayed for rain and it rained a bit. Good thing the wind died down around noon. Sweetie left me in the car to check the situation. 

Seeing the smoke shift from white to black I started shaking. Of course, I was worried it would reach out house. I told myself though to remain calm because it won't be good for me to be stressed. I called Miggy and asked him to stay with me in the car. Soon enough four fire trucks arrived and I knew the issue would be addressed already.

After awhile, a neighbor passed by and advised to have our house checked. I called up Sweetie to request the BFP to check the back of our house. He soon came with a fireman and they checked the area. The fireman felt the firewall and said it wasn't warm. He also said it was good we immediately turned off the electricity when the fire started. Whew! Soon enough the neighbor passed by again and said that he went up their roof to check and said everything was in order.

Visited my friend and they were all okay. No one was injured and the fire was limited to the structure, it did not reach their main house. We're also all okay, albeit a bit shaken. 

Thank you Paranaque fire department for responding immediately. They sent 5 to 6 trucks. Barangay Sun Valley also sent an ambulance on standby. 

Thank you Lord for sending rain and for protecting all of us. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

 

Fire in Paranaque

I got sick and after reading the blogging attempts I did early this month I decided to rest and just re-start the challenge when I felt like doing it. My target was to start again on January 15, but I had a relapse over the weekend and had to use all my energy for our quarterly review. I survived the review, but hope I did not infect anyone else. Saw my favorite EENT right after my last review and he ordered me to take at least one day rest.

So yesterday I rested and as the day progressed I started to feel really sad that I've been sick for more than a week already. I was also sad because the doctor gave me antibiotics again. I know I need it to get well, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to drink antibiotics for several more months. I know that worrying is very unproductive so I took the time to sleep to help heal my body. My brain was also having a hard time anyway figuring out a new assignment that was given to me.

I was still sulking by evening and was quite masungit to my boys. I wanted to work on some projects but my body wasn't cooperating. Past ten in the evening I received a message from Phil about the fire that broke near our place in Paranaque. I immediately checked for news about it to identify the area. I realized that it's quite hard to get the exact area from Twitter because they usually just state the general location. I was starting to panic because the areas were near our place.

Photo by Myra, our neighbor.

After scouring through tweets I finally found the correct area that was on fire -- Sitio Pag-asa, Barangay Sun Valley. I immediately checked the map to see how near/far the area was. It was very near. I kept telling myself, DO NOT PANIC. I then checked on my Mom to see if they already knew about the fire. They did and they said that they could hear explosions coming from it. My neighbors who were chatting on our FB page also indicated that there were many explosions coming from the area. I then informed my other neighbors in Sun Valley about the fire.

Photo by our neighbor Daisy M.

The alarm was eventually set to 5. I did a bit of research to understand better what the alarm levels mean. It's mainly about what level of authority will be in-charge of the situation according to the Bureau of Fire Protection. Because it was already level 5, fire trucks from all over Metro Manila came to respond. Ate Luz said that there was a firetruck already in our street which is about a kilometer away from the fire. I really truly appreciate the hard work the fire fighters did to protect everyone and save properties.

According to GMA the fire was controlled at 12:07am and it was out at past 1 in the morning. Sixty houses and 150 families were affected by the fire. There were no casualties reported (thank God!). The fire hit very close to home. It was just a kilometer away from my home and my Mom's home. Being far away the only thing we could do is to pray that the fire fighters could put it out as soon as they could. I also took it upon myself to find accurate information to share to my family and get as much info to assuage my fears.

The work now is to help the families affected by the fire. My neighbors shared that the Marimar chapel and the school was also affected by the fire. If you would like to send donations, you may send it to the parish through Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (+632-823-1210).

Fire!

I was at Ateneo yesterday at the Tech Tanod training when my long time Kuya pinged me on Facebook. He said there was a huge fire in our village and that the Parish Convento was partially affected. Good thing no one was affected.

I was shocked.

It was the first time in my entire life that I heard about a fire in our village (I've lived here since birth). I have heard of incidents within our barangay but not inside our village. It made me antsy since we were far away from home when I was told about it and I really have this crazy fear of fire (yes even matches and candles). I think that phobia started when I watched Firestarter when I was a kid.

Anyway, my friend said that the fire spread quickly and since it was windy it immediately affected the Parish Convento. Good thing there were quite a number of people in Church attending a BEC meeting and they helped save the house and Convento and prevented the fire from spreading. Tulungan talaga my friend said (he is also btw a barangay kagawad). He also said that the priests were okay and that their vehicles were saved, except for Fr. Lito's car because the roof was singed.

The location of the house and Parish Convento is our regular route. We passed by it last night on the way home. The house was totally damaged. The only thing saved was the tarpaulin that hung on the gate. It was hard to see the damage on the Parish Convento. Will probably see it when we hear mass later.

Thank God only material things were damaged and everyone's safe.

I'm pretty sure that the priests and family needs help. If you are interested to send help (hey Sun Valley neighbors!), please direct them to:

Fr. Ramon Ramos, C.P.
Parish Priest
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish
4068 Bougainville St.
Sun Valley Subdivision, Paranaque City
Or call +632-8231210