By Carl R. Geronimo
See full album: Fire Incident

Far Eastern University (FEU) Safety and Security Office (SSO) was alarmed by a fire incident in fourth floor of Law Building (LB) earlier at 3:00 PM. FEU Chief Security Officer Verlando Miguel said that the incident is under control.

“Kaya tayo nagpatawag ng bumbero for sure na just in case na mag full blown 'yung apoy, nandiyan sila. Pero so far kontrolado naman kasi naagapan naman natin, narespondehan naman natin. At the same time, kapag ganung rumesponde tayo siyempre, normally inaalam natin 'yung building so evacuate muna ang mga estudyante (The reason why we called the fire department is to make sure that they are already here, just in case the fire became bigger. But so far, everything is under control because we responded immediately. At the same time, when we respond in this kind of situation, normally we check the building and we evacuate the students),” he said.

Further, Miguel is also looking at the ongoing construction in the area as the possible cause of the incident.

“Based dun sa (on the) opinion ng (of) security, galing 'yan sa (it came from the) flux ng (of) welding. 'Yung welding machine, so may flux 'yun, bumabagsak ang flux nun (The flux of welding machine drops on the ground every time you used it). Pero sa palagay ko 'yun din naman ang magiging resulta ng (but I think it will also be the result of the) investigation ng (of) district fire investigator,” he added.

Meanwhile, third year Bachelor of Arts in Communication student Jessica Nichole Peña shared her thoughts about the incident.

“Kinabahan syempre. 'Di ba may previous sunog sa mga schools? Siyempre nag-panic utak ko akala ko ganun kalalang sunog mangyayari (Of course I feel nervous because there are also incidents of fire in some schools. I’m afraid because I thought the fire will get bigger),” she said.

Also, FEU President Michael Alba came to the area during the incident and monitored the status of the building after the authorities cleared the area.

The FEU Advocate reached FEU Facilities and Technical Services (FTS) but failed to get their statements due to press time.

“Number one safety, kailangan laging may fire extinguisher sa tabi nila kapag nagwe-welding sila (there should be a fire extinguisher with them every time they’re working with welding),” Miguel advised.

The incident did not cause any serious damage to the building.

“Actually, ang damage lang naman, syempre nabasa 'yung kwarto, tapos 'yung bubong may dalawang binaklas nila dun pero ngayon, ni-re-restore na nila (the only damage is of course that the rooms were covered with water, and the roof that they removed. But they’re already restoring it),” Miguel stated.