By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – An overheated audio amplifier caused the blaze that hit St. Vincent Ferrer Parish-Shrine in Barangay Vito, Sagay City, Negros Occidental last Friday.
According to Inspector Rodney Nadal, acting city fire marshal, they received a call for assistance around 11:17 p.m., almost an hour after the fire broke out at around 10:45 p.m.
“Late na may nakatawag sa amon because gin try pa sang taga simbahan kung makaya lang nila na basyahan tubig,” Nadal said.
It took the firefighters around 20-30 minutes to control the fire which fortunately did not spread to other parts of the Church, he added.
Nadal said the priest admitted that they forgot to unplug the amplifier from the electrical outlet.
“Nag overheat and nag cause short circuit amo to nasunog,” he added.
However, Nadal said the fire did not affect much of the structure of the Church since the building was made of hard wood and concrete materials.
“Wala naman nag lapta gid ang kalayo,” he added.
Nadal said the fire only damaged a portion of the ceiling of the Church near the altar.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) declared fire out around 12:05 a.m. Saturday, July 10.
The fire damaged P100,000 worth of properties, according to Nadal. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, the community of the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish-Shrine – the Diocesan Shrine of the Diocese of San Carlos said that they were saddened about the incident.
“At the moment, we are in constant coordination with the authorities to ensure the safety of other structures adjacent to the site of incident, and to determine whether these areas are still viable for use for other spiritual activities of the community,” the group said in a statement.
“We ask for your prayers and all sorts of support in helping our little and beloved parish thrive and recover from this untoward incident in the middle of a global pandemic,” they added.
