Woman hurt in Finasisu fire

A woman was injured when a mysterious fire broke out early Saturday morning at several apartment units along Tun Antonio Apa Road near the Northern Marianas College’s gymnasium in Finasisu, destroying an estimated $300,000 worth of properties.

The woman, a Chinese national, sustained second-degree burns on the feet and left arm and first-degree burns on the right arm, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Travis Hurst.

Hurst said the woman was screaming from inside the building and was then seen jumping through a glass window.

Hurst said two police officers quickly helped evacuate the woman, who was treated at the Commonwealth Health Center.

Saipan Tribune learned that the one-story building is owned by Thomas Dueñas and leased to a certain Mr. Wang, a Chinese man who was one of seven persons arrested in February by local and federal enforcers for allegedly trafficking in methamphetamine or “ice.”

DPS Fire Division has yet to release details about the incident.

The blaze, which was reported to police at 1:49am, totally burned the interior of the semi-concrete one-story building that has 15 to 16 units, two kitchens, and a warehouse. The fire also damaged the right side of a Land Cruiser owned by Mr. Wang that was in the parking lot of the building.

Firefighters from two fire trucks were still trying to put out the blaze when Saipan Tribune left the scene at 3:50pm. A fire truck was still at the scene at 8am, with thick smoke still drifting from the burned out hulk of the building.

Dueñas, who owns the building, lives with his family in a two-story house behind the apartment units. The fire did not spread to his house.

Dueñas said he maintained the building because the person who leased it is still in prison.

Dueñas said that prior to the fire, Commonwealth Utilities Corp. crew checked the building a couple of times because the power would go on and off.

On Friday night, the Northern Marianas College celebrated its Charter Day. The event’s stage was put up just across Dueñas’ apartment units.

Duenas said he was checking the apartment units early Saturday morning when he saw fire in the bedroom of a unit occupied by his brother-in-law in the back part of the building. He learned that his brother-in-law had been drinking with three other men on Friday night inside the unit.

Duenas said he has yet to talk to his brother-in-law since the fire broke out. He said the door to his brother-in-law’s unit was open when the fire broke out, but he was not there.

He said he immediately told his wife to call 911 as he tried to extinguish the blaze. He then shouted and banged the doors and windows to call the attention of the apartments’ occupants.

He said there are nine people occupying the apartment building, including his brother-in-law and cousin.

The Chinese woman, who was injured, apparently failed to wake up immediately because she came home late after work. She then jumped through the window of her unit. Before the fire, the woman had reportedly injured her legs at work.

Dueñas said that firefighters arrived 30 to 40 minutes after their call. He said if the firefighters came early, most units in the building could probably have been saved because the fire started in the back part of the building.

He said the two responding fire trucks came from the northern side of the island—San Roque and Kagman—instead of from Susupe or Koblerville, which are only five minutes away from their place.

A Chinese man who occupies one of the units said he was sleeping when he heard shouting and that he later saw smoke in the building.

The man, who asked for anonymity, said the lights in the building were off and he realized there was fire as felt the heat and smoke.

“I ran out [through] the window,” he said, adding that the injured woman also jumped out from the window of her unit.

DPS fire investigators are still looking into the cause of the blaze.

The front portion of the apartment building used to be occupied by No. Wang College Store and PC Café. The establishments were raided by Drug Enforcement Task Force in March 2010 after Yu Hua Wang, who reportedly worked at the time at the store, allegedly sold “ice” to a confidential informant.

The case against Wang was subsequently dismissed by the Superior Court.

The establishments were then changed to Iron Work Café, but it never opened.

It was not clear yet whether it was Yu Hua Wang who leased the building. Of the seven suspects arrested in February for drug trafficking, three had the same last names, Wang.