About that Butuan fire

The horrible fire in my hometown, Butuan, that recently made the news is depressing on a number of levels.

I learned about it from my mom, who told me that one of those who died was pregnant. (Caveat: the news reports have mentioned nothing about a pregnant woman being among the victims.)

Stories like this always leave a gruesome image. Of the 20 people in the sleeping quarters, only three survived. The rest probably died from suffocation before they could get a chance to run. One of the survivors described the scenario inside the quarters as pure panic and chaos. It's a tough scene to imagine.

Add to that the fact that most of the victims were women working as salespeople in the department store, Novo (which, by the way, was popular in the city for its cheap made-in-China items). Many of them were breadwinners and had come to Butuan from neighboring provinces to earn a living. At least one of them was putting a sibling through school.

The tragedy jarred the local community for sentimental reasons, too, I think. The fire happened smack in the city center, on the intersection of Butuan's two most important roads. The building that burned down used to be the only decent cinema house in town before Gaisano set up shop. Right beside it is Crown, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the oldest grocery in the city.

Of course, there's also the collective trauma of a quiet though highly urbanized community suddenly making the headlines for a most tragic reason.