Itanong mo kay Simsimi
When two roads meet
A worship and party mecca
A Mexican Mooon
FROM ASHES TO LIFE Photo by KRISTINE LOUISE L. ANDRADE
By GENESSA A. BUENAFE
D
A R K S N O W. Orange sparks. Black smoke. If only there was something else left other than this inferno she was facing; but only the smell of burning wood and plastic filled her lungs as she started to tremble. Before her mind could grasp the immensity of the damage, the place she once knew as home had already been razed to the ground. There was so much she could have done to save what was left of her home but her hands were busy at that moment, clasping all her shaking “cubs” that were clinging to her for dear life. In the past three days, she had felt the tugging of her heartstrings telling her to stay home but she never understood why until this fatal day when her house, her home, was reduced to blackened pieces of dirt beneath her feet. Now, there were only ashes. “White smoke - I saw it as
we left home to attend mass,” Rose (not her real name) said as she stood beside the Tanod Outpost, a.k.a. her temporary home. “I joked to my husband that there was a fire. We both laughed while we were riding on a jeepney.” R o s e, to g e t h e r w i t h her husband and four of her children, were going to Sta. Teresita Church at that moment when she noticed the smoke again, only bigger this time. “It was coming from the school. Don’t worry about it,” her husband told her in an attempt to calm her down; but she could feel her heart beating fast and telling her to stop and go back. “Then, I heard the siren of a fire truck that seemed to come from where our barangay is,” she said in a barely audible voice, “I had a hunch I was right.” In t h e m i d s t o f t h e D i n a g y a n g f e v e r, t h r e e villages in Iloilo City - TanzaEsperanza, Tanza-Timawa, and Malipayon-Delgado - were experiencing a different kind
of heat, the kind that could decimate entire villages and even take lives in the blink of an eye. While the more fortunate ones had no second thoughts about leaving their homes to join the merrymaking that night, 500 families, including Rose’s, watched with fear as their houses quickly turned into smoldering embers, charred ruins and acrid ashes. “The fire spread fast mainly because of the light materials that the houses in the three areas were made of. In addition, the streets were too narrow as to prevent the fire trucks from penetrating the areas where the houses were,” said FO2 Jean A. Monsale, and Insp. Victor E. Loreto from the Oton fire station, one of the units in the province that responded to the general alarm, “The fire was under control at about nine in the evening on our side of the village.” According to Iloilo City Fire Marshal Chief Insp. Jerry Berte, the fire started at around
5:20 p.m. from the residence of Renato Rosales in Bgy. Tanza, Timawa. It was apparently caused by an overheated flatiron that was left unattended because there seemed to be no one in the house at that time. The hot iron burned the spot where it was left, causing it to burst into flames. The fire quickly consumed the house and the neighboring houses spread over three villages. “Rumors have it that the person who last used the iron just couldn’t wait to join the Dinagyang festivities that night,” said Lily (not her real name), Rose’s friend and a resident of Brgy. MalipayonDelgado. “That person couldn’t even pull the plug out of the socket.” Lily’s house also caught fire even though it was the farthest from where it all started. She was home that time, cleaning the cabinets, arranging the (decorative) white stones in her garden and dusting the furniture when she heard the
news. “My nephew told me about it and even asked me what the number of the fire station was. I told him to look it up in the directory,” laughed Lily, “Then I became alarmed when I saw many people running about in panic; before I knew it, my own house was already burning down; and to think that I spent the whole day cleaning!” Sleepless nights. Haunting dreams. Waning appetites. These marked the lives of Rose and Lily for many days after the fire. Their strong hearts could bear the weight of what had happened but their children had to take almost all the blows. Rose’s youngest daughter who was three years old laughed and talked about anything but would suddenly become silent when asked about the night of the fire; while Lily’s oldest daughter, a fourth year student of the University of San Agustin, cried every time the fire was brought up in a conversation. “Then she would just study and
study despite the fact that only two of her books remained after the fire. Studying was her only outlet,” Lily said. She advises others “…to prepare, especially when the houses are just beside each other. Old but important things should be packed in small boxes and old clothes should be kept not only in heavy cabinets but also in sacks or boxes.” She further said, “I learned my lesson that night and everyone should learn it as early as now.” Life goes on for Rose and Lily and for everyone else whose life was shattered by the fire. The 500 affected families will now embark on a journey to a new life, a new beginning, holding on to the remnants of their old life: a few appliances, a bagful of clothes, and an undaunted spirit. Fo r t h e m , t h e s e a re enough… enough to blow off the ashes of despair that have clouded their lives; and to start anew under the bright sky of hope.