SPECIAL REPORT: The Brgy Lorega-San Miguel experience: Rebuilding after a fire

CEBU, Philippines - Jesusa Querubin, a resident of Barangay Lorega-San Miguel in Cebu City, lost her home of 47 years to a fire incident in the afternoon of March 18, 2014.

The fire, one of the biggest recorded by the Cebu City Bureau of Fire Protection, destroyed around 750 structures, made mostly of light materials. Some 1,320 families or 5,500 individuals out of the 12,600 population of the barangay lost their homes that day.

Lorega-San Miguel barangay captain Fritzgerald Herrera said the fire, which lasted for two and a half hours, razed over 10-hectares of the barangay's 22-hectare land area destroying the houses in eight of the 17 sub-villages or sitios.

And the reason why the fire was able to wreak havoc in the area — there were no roads that would allow firefighters and responders to penetrate the fire scene.

Querubin, who lived in the interior portion of the barangay, could not do anything but look as the flames engulfed her house. "We had very narrow pathways that could not be traversed by vehicles, let alone fire trucks or ambulances," she said.

Fires are among the many risks when living in a community where residents are mostly informal settlers. Houses, usually made of light materials, are so close to each other and are most of the time separated only by thin wooden walls. There are no streets, only pathways.

But the 2014 fire, no matter how devastating, brought about positive things for Cebu City and the residents of the barangay — it was an eye opener for the city government to address communities that have encroached on road lots, as well as the safety of people living in densely populated areas; it meant improved living conditions for the survivors of the fire in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel.

Re-blocking, Rebuilding

Majority of the areas affected by the fire were lots that belonged to the Cebu City government, thus, former mayor Michael Rama saw it as an opportunity to implement a re-blocking scheme, a spatial reconfiguration of the houses of the residents affected by fire.

Through the re-blocking scheme, the city government was able to rearrange and reconstruct the community into a sustainable one — with wide roads for easy access during natural and man-made emergencies and calamities and with houses that are already partly or fully made of concrete for better protection of residents.

Rama, who served two terms as city mayor, said fire incidents are usually aggravated by the absence of roads, making it difficult for firemen to do their job.

"The situation before is like this, if there's a fire incident, the victims could rebuild their houses on the same area. When fire hits the area again, the same damage would be recorded because there is no access," he said.

It was a challenge, according to the barangay captain, to convince residents to give up part of the land they used to occupy to pave the way for the re-blocking, especially for those who had bigger lots in the past. Re-blocking meant equal lot allocations of only 32 square meters per house.

Luckily, Barangay Captain Herrera said, the residents cooperated with the plans of the city government and the re-blocking was implemented. As soon as lots were allocated for housing, other community infrastructure were also put in place — wider roads, a communal toilet, a market and a drainage system. The city government and the private sector also helped in rebuilding the houses of the fire victims.

"Re-blocking brings wider roads and dignity to fire survivors. It does not make the poor poorer. It gives them a chance to live in a community worthy of living," Rama said. "Even if it reduces the lot allocation of some families, it would bring a safer community not only in times of emergency and calamity, but also it brings a safer place since peace and order program would be efficiently implemented," he added.

Herrera, meanwhile, said the re-blocking boosted the morale of the residents.

"It (re-blocking) is really sustainable. It's a long term solution and at the same time, it has rippling effect," he said, citing the benefits of the re-blocking which includes accessibility of the area, encourage the residents to do business, more safety, among others.

Cebu City Fire Marshal, Chief Inspector Rogelio Bongabong Jr., said the re-blocking scheme implemented by the city government provides firefighters and responders access to interior portions of densely-populated areas.

"In several fire accidents in the city, the top problem that the firefighters would encounter is having narrow roads," he said, adding that he hopes the city government implements the re-blocking scheme in all the barangays even if there are no fires.

He said the establishment of the wider roads has reduced the risk of fire spreading to more houses in a neighborhood because these roads are specifically designed to allow the passage of large emergency vehicles.

True enough, the Querubin house, rebuilt at a re-blocked lot after the 2014 fire, was again hit by fire in 2015.

"Because we now have wider roads in the barangay, and because our houses are already made of concrete, the fire that hit us last year (2015) did not do much damage. Our house was just partially damaged. I am really thankful to the city government for re-blocking the area," she said. (FREEMAN)