Plain and simple stupidity

By Uriel Quilinguing

HUMAN beings learn from their mistakes, at times the hard way, after having gone through excruciating physical pain, emotional breakdowns, and psychological trauma, or simply out of instinct for self-preservation.

When I learned a colleague in media was among those who were rendered homeless due to an hour-long fire, and that all she had left was what she wore at that time, I can easily relate to her situation.  

Every time a fire incident gets reported on radio or TV, I could not help but feel sorry for myself and my family members because we lost all our belongings to a fire that originated from the dirty kitchen of our neighbor. That was decades ago but that incident taught all us precautionary measures we would be with us the rest of our lives. 

Since then, all of us would make sure all that can ignite and produce fire are eliminated before going to sleep or leaving the house. Nobody in his right mind would want to become a fire victim again.

With this mindset, MediaKonek disagrees with the statement of Fire Chief Supt. Lindy Lauzon, the regional director of the Bureau of Fire Protection-10, during a recent forum in a downtown mall that people do not learn from their experiences with fire. 

This, probably is the frame of mind of those at the BFP since this year’s theme of the Fire Prevention and Awareness Month carry such peg— “Matuto ka, Sunog, Iwasan na” which could roughly be translated as “You learn, Fire, Avoid it.”    

Incidentally, Lauzon, who was then a junior officer of the BFP with the Cagayan de Oro Fire Station, was among those who responded to the blaze that burned down the three-door apartment in Pinikitan area where my family and I were residing then.

As to the origin of that fire, MediaKonek subscribes to Lauzon’s view that many do not learn from the experiences of those traumatized by fire, since the blaze that gutted the apartment building came from an unattended open flame on a dirty kitchen, with a bottle of kerosene gas, right across our fence. 

After three decades or so, an unattended flame while cooking is still among the common causes of fires until today.  

Firefighters admitted they had difficulty reaching their targets for fire containment at Barangay 18 because of the narrow passage, thus the issue of inaccessible areas where there is fire. This situational bottleneck, Lauzon said, has been there from the time when, as a licensed engineer, he took the challenge of becoming a firefighter. Now, he is about to retire. 

He said the problems they encountered in the past are still there because of public apathy, that the communities do not actively participate in generating public awareness and generating concrete actions to prevent the occurrences of fire.  

While community-based initiatives on fire prevention and hazard consciousness may be wanting, still there are silver linings particularly on the pockets of volunteerism from the business sector who have gone beyond what is commonly labeled as corporate social responsibility. 

Aside from the fire trucks from the City Fire District Station 69, Lauzon said there could be no less than 30 fire trucks in Cagayan de Oro at a given time, hence fire containment could be done in just an hour or so. 

But inculcating consciousness so that fire prevention becomes a way of life in every household and workplaces may take years—not until when those whose loved ones and hard-earned properties valuables perished in horrifying inferno would come out into the open and willingly share their valuable lessons of the past.  

On a personal level, I believe every victim of the fire has learned enough. And for one to commit the same mistake and be victimized by fire again, and again, is plain and simple stupidity.          

***

I am grateful to three of MediaKonek followers who pointed out an error in the first paragraph of my column “Political chameleons” that was published on Feb. 21, 2020. What came out was this: “The framers of the 1987 Constitution must have realized the inclusion of a party-list provision was necessary so that the sentiments of the basic sectors could not be ventilated, heard and factored in, in the crafting of laws and policy directions in pursuing a holistic development agenda.” The word “not” should be omitted so the phrase would be “the sentiments of the basic sectors could be ventilated.” 

(Uriel C. Quilinguing is a former president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club who had been editor in chief of Cagayan de Oro-based newspapers, including this paper. For reactions, e-mail them to uriel.quilinguing@yahoo.com.)