ABULENCIA, JOYCE ANN January 16, 2021

BS CRIMINOLOGY 3-A

Manor Hotel Fire

Manor Hotel owner William Genato more than 70 people are dead and 100
injured, over half of them seriously, after a devastating fire broke out in the Manor
Hotel in the Philippine capital of Manila. Including some taking part in a religious
conference sponsored by an American evangelical group. The flames spread
rapidly through the third and fourth floors of the budget hotel, which is located in
the Quezon City area of suburban Manila.

The hotel had 236 registered guests, the police said. Of those, 172 were
taking part in a Christian crusade sponsored by the Don Clowers Ministries, of
Irving, Tex. Several Americans came for the conference, but no foreigners were
believed to be among the casualties.

Quezon City mayor Feliciano Belmonte reported that 62 of the victims died
at the scene and 13 later in hospital. Two were hotel staff members. Many of the
rest were guests booked into the hotel to attend a conference organized by the
American-based Christian evangelical organization—the Dawn Flowers Ministry.
It was the worst hotel fire in the country’s history.

Investigators believe the fire may have started as the result of a short circuit
in a third floor stockroom near a karaoke bar and restaurant. Although it was two
hours before the fire was extinguished, only one of the victims died of burns. Most
deaths were caused by smoke inhalation. Many of the victims were found in
hallways and rooms on upper floors that were untouched by the flames. As the
fire swept through the hotel, people were trapped in their rooms because their
windows were barred to prevent burglaries. Firefighters struggled to cut through
the grills with power tools to rescue survivors.

The six-storey hotel had no working smoke alarms. Some of the fire exits were
locked or obstructed and there were no emergency lights or sprinkler systems. A
security guard tried to warn guests by discharging a pistol but the shot was drown
out by the noise of the hotel’s air conditioning system. Guests who tried to escape
found their windows barred by anti-burglary iron grilles.

According to one official, the Quezon City Manor Hotel, located just north
of the Manila's tourist center, was inspected three months ago. Now, this
inspection reveals a number of violations of fire safety regulations, and the
owners, the management, were given between15 and 30 days to comply with
the regulations, according to BBC news sources.

Fire officials now believe that the hotel never did make the hotel comply to
the regulations. Officials say that if metal bars are placed over windows, they
should be able to open from the inside. A fire official also said that the hotel was
also not equipped with a fire alarm.

According to BBC news sources, the Philippines has a pretty poor fire safety
record. Building owners begin to ignore the regulations, and they usually pay off
regulatory officials when they come to inspect buildings. That why the corruption
was the biggest reason for that incident. More official accept bribed given by the
owner even the establishment or building was not properly check for that
incident. They need to understand the importance of this National Building Code
of the Philippine and Fire Code of the Philippines.