Fire hits portion of Casa De Felipe in Garapan

Smoke billows out of a portion of the Casa De Felipe apartments in Garapan as firetrucks of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services rush in to put out the blaze. The fire was contained in one portion of the building and no one was hurt. (PATRICK FIELDAD)

A portion of the Casa De Felipe apartments in Garapan went up in flames yesterday for reasons yet to be determined by the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Fortunately, the fire was contained in one portion of the residence and no one perished as a result of the fire.

According to Amore Tamayo, one of the tenants of Casa De Felipe and the woman who first raised the alarm, said the fire started after what sounded to her like an electrical explosion.

Tamayo said she discovered the fire while she was just outside of her apartment preparing lunch at around 11:40am. She recalls the first fire truck arriving on scene shortly after at around 12pm.

“I was about to cook lunch and then I heard an explosion, or like when an electric wire pops, so I checked outside and the lights started to flicker. I waited it out a little bit and tried to continue cooking but then, I heard an even louder explosion and then I got nervous. I took out my phone to call my husband but then I saw a light from the storage room. I was wondering why someone would turn on what looked like a lamp in the storage room because the light was coming from the floor. I checked on it more closely and that’s when I saw a fire at the corner of the storage room,” she said.

Tamayo said the storage room, which doubles as a laundry room, served mainly as a storage space for old beds, mattresses, linens, and other utilities, which could have been the reason why the fire spread so quickly.

“I panicked, I messaged the owner asking for help because the storage room was on fire at this point. The landlord arrived here quickly and he and some others grabbed fire extinguishers to put out the fire but the fire was spreading too fast and had gotten so big so we couldn’t get in anymore,” she said.

While the landlord and others tried to put out the fire, Tamayo said she started shouting “Fire! Fire!” to warn everyone who was still at home.

“Most of the people were either at work or in school. Thankfully, no one got hurt and everyone was able to get out when they did. Thankfully it was just the storage room that was burned,” she said.

According to another tenant, Lenie Bedia-Iparab, she could smell the fumes of the fire from her apartment, which was on the second floor. Fortunately for her and her two children, neighbors acted quickly to help everyone get to safety.

At the scene, Saipan Tribune learned that the fire was completely extinguished at around 12:40pm.