34 buildings, 11 vehicles destroyed in Bontoc fire

Photo by Municipal Information  Office of Bontoc

92 families displaced; donations on 

By Gina Dizon, Alpine L. Killa-Malwagay and Christy Mae F. Che-es

BONTOC Mountain Province – A total of 34 residential houses and business establishments here in Barangay Poblacion were burned and destroyed after fire broke at around 2:30 a.m. on April 11 and declared out by the Bureau of Fire Protection 7:20 a.m. same day.
    A report from the Bontoc Emergency Operations Center said 24 structures were totally damaged, 10 partially damaged, and 11 vehicles burned. 
    A total of 194 individuals or 96 families were affected by the incident.
    No one was burned nor injured in the incident.  
    This as donations in cash or in kind from individuals, organizations, institutions and groups are being accepted here at the Emergency Operations Center of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management (MDRRMC) Office.
    Cash and in-kind donations continue to pour in. A total of P2,053,534 was received by the Bontoc local governmentfor fire victims as of 3 p.m. of April 14.
    Donors included Mountain Province Contractors Association with a donation of  P600,000; Province of Kalinga with P100,000, Barangay Caluttit of Bontoc with P45,226 and other persons from Bontoc, other municipalities of Mountain Province, elsewhere and abroad.   
    Bontoc MDRRMC Officer Johanna Padaen said cash donations shall be equally divided among displaced house owners.
    Individual renters of boarding house establishments shall be given cash assistance from the Social Welfare and Development, Padaen added.    
    MDRRMC distributed food, sanitary items and vegetables from donations to the fire victims given by members of the immediate community.
    Initial help of 39 family kits worth 359 thousand pesos from the Office of Civil Defense 161 free food packs from the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development worth P75,000 and 46 hygiene kits were given to the displaced fire victims.
    Of the 22 damaged structures, 12 were commercial stores for rent, boarding houses for students and working folks.
    Nine of the 10 partially damaged concrete structures are commercial spaces.  
    Also burned during the conflagration were 11 totally damaged vehicles including three tricycles and a Pajero.
Affected folks were brought to evacuation sites at All Saints Cathedral Compound and Jehovah’s Witnesses Church while some of the displaced individuals were accommodated by relatives in town.
 “The fire spread so fast,” Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Provincial Fire Marshall SINSP Ferdinand Ammiyao said. 
    Ammiyao said they received a distress call from the Bontoc Police at 2:36 a.m. of April 11.
    “We immediately went to the site and found the place in total fire,” he added.  
    Ammiyao said he called for assistance from the nearby municipal fire stations of Sagada, Sabangan, Sagada and Bauko.
    Fire was declared out at 7:20 a.m. with help from the BFP, Philippine National Police, MDRRMC, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Bontoc Water Delivery Organization, Criminology student interns of Mountain Province State Polytechnic College and other volunteers.
    Asked where and how the fire started, Ammiyao said investigation was still on going.
    Cost of damage is yet unknown pending submission of individual losses.
    Ammiyao advised the public to report any incident of fire immediately to the BFP.
    To date, clearing operations were being conducted at fire site.
    Bontoc Mayor Jerome "Chagsen" Tudlong, Jr., who chairs the MDDRMC and officials of Bontoc Emergency Operations Center thanked everyone for their help and assistance.
    Among the immediate needs of the evacuees are baby diapers, footwear/slippers, sanitary pads, and new or clean clothing.
    The public is advised to course through their donations to the Bontoc Emergency Operations Center.
    Following the fire, Mayor Tudlong, Jr. issued executive order No.18-2023 declaring suspension of classes in all levels, both public and private schools, to ensure health and safety of students.
    The Poblacion was temporarily cut off from power supply as personnel of the Mountain Province Electric Cooperative started to clear the electric wires for safety of residents.
    Lt. Col. Bernardo Wong, deputy provincial director of PNP Mountain Province, said among those burned were three cars and three tricycles. A policeman’s house, a policeman’s car and their tricycle parked in the area were also burned, he added.
    The deputy director also said that the area has been closed for an in-depth investigation of how the fire started.
    A few hours after the fire was declared fire out by the BFP, a ritual called “Khaeb si Uminuman,” a cleansing ritual performed after an incident to appease the “unseen and the living” before the responders go home, was performed by Municipal Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) David Coycoyen at the Municipal Ato.
    Meanwhile, elders led by former IPMR George Luis Fakat performed “Changtey” or a cleansing ritual on April 12. The ritual is done in eventful difficulties like the fire incident.
    With the conduct of the ritual, the clearing operations at ground zero and the construction of the temporary shelters for fire victims stopped on April 13 for observance of “Tengaw” – a cultural lockdown. All activities being done at ground zero resume April 16. 
    The cause of fire is still under investigation and the estimated damage cost is still to be released by the BFP.