a photo of the smaller fire that struck the same area earlier this year (photo taken by Leo Castillo of PhilMUG)
Just went home from work @ half past 2 in the morning. After alighting the bus along EDSA, near the overpass in Guadalupe, I saw a couple of men and women rushing past me. At first I thought they were after a snatcher because the area is quite densely populated and a lot of shady characters are known to flit by thereabouts.
Just like Cubao, Recto and most other places in the metropolis, the place is teeming with people round the clock, mostly sidewalk vendors hawking their wares even in the unholy hours of the morning: slippers, pirated dvds, hardware supplies, home decors, bed mattresses and what have you are strewn all over the place. Anyway, when I turned around, I saw this monster of a fire burning on the squatters colony known as the Laperal Compound wedged between a seminary and the Loyola Memorial Homes on the southbound side of EDSA. Incidentally, this was the same spot I was standing on when I saw the same place go up in flames around 8 am last January 11, 2008.
Two fires in almost 6 months. What the heck is going on?
I found myself staring dumbfounded across EDSA. More people rushed past me and climbed the overpass, some were looking for their loved ones. Some were carrying whatever was left of their belongings. One woman said she only managed to salvage her TV set and nothing else. In spite of the human tragedy unfolding before their eyes, a “jologs” looking teener smoking a cigarette passed by and even managed to crack a joke in bad taste:
“makikisindi sana ako dun kaso malayo eh (I would’ve gone there for a light but it’s too far).”
As usual, theories from kibitzers abound: a meth addict knocked over a candle during a “jam session”, arson to drive away the squatters from the compound, quarreling lovers knocked over a gas lamp, etc.
All around me, more people are gathering to watch the spectacle. All of a sudden there was a loud bang, followed by another. The fire must have owned an LPG tank or two while a huge billboard featuring men’s underwear stood over the compound as if watching all hell break loose (EDSA’s other name should be Billboard Avenue). At first, the flame barely reached the iron base of the billboard frame’s colossal skeletion. But soon the flames lept higher and higher as its base grew wider. Soon the flames licked the billboard’s trusses causing them to smolder and smoke. I was worried that the entire billboard would come crashing down when the steel structure reaches its melting (thankfully it didn’t) point. At its peak I think the flame reached around 7 – 10 stories high. By this time, the tarpaulin signagess have melted away like some giant snot . The radiant heat was such that 12 lanes away, on the other side of EDSA, I can feel beads of sweat rising from my pores. In fact, it feels like high noon – and it’s not even 3am.I can only imagine the extreme heat endured by passengers of the ordinary (read: no aircon) buses that passed by on the other side of the lane. I was also praying that no LPG or airplane fuel tanker would come traipsing by.
Ive been standing there a good 10 minutes or so before the first fire engines came within hearing distance. The first to respond were mostly volunteer fire brigades using small trucks about half a bus in length. As if on cue, the Filipino’s twisted sense of humor in the face of tragedy went on overdrive again. I actually heard people say things like this:
“Tangna, wala na bang mas maliit diyan?” (Son of a whore, can it get smaller than that?)
“Tabi kayo andyan na yung malaki” (Make way, here comes the big one!)
“Anlakas sumirena kaliit naman! (It sounds too big for its size!)
After almost an hour of standing there and hearing what sounds like a year’s worth of stockpiled firecrackers explode and watching power lines burn like Ghost Rider’s whip while power transformers hiss and explode, I decided to go home. But not before the “UZI” (short for “usisero” or kibitzer) in me decided to climb the already crowded overpass to get a bird’s eye view of the disaster. The whole southbound lane of EDSA was closed and people and fire trucks dominated all six of its lanes. The view from atop the overpass looked awful. Some houses don’t even have a single wall or roof standing, which kinda reminds me of Hiroshima or Dresden’s fire bombing.
When I turned my back on the scene, a good portion of the conflagration was already under control although a fresh new round of explosions rocked the area as I walked away. I can only hope that no one gets hurt.
Because my wife says I’d be soon if I don’t get home pronto hehe.
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