JDV daughter, Mansion Burned!

[gearspeed]

May she rest in peace.Kami rin pinapatay na namin ang christmas lights before bedtime..:D

[OTO]

Knowing how some people sleep late I fear that most of them were up when the fire broke out. Makes me want to dispose of these lights we put up yesterday.

Xmas lights = causes death & destruction of property and higher electricity bills!

[mhelskie]

kaya kami walang xmas lights sa loob ng bahay, puro sa gate at bakod lng, ung mga pang outdoor na xmas light binibili namin...d kami mahilig maglagay ng xmas lights sa loob ng bahay kahit dati.

Ingat din sa pagbili ng mga mumurahing xmas lights, karamihan dyan manipis mga insulators kya madaling mag init....

[baiskee]

kakaawa...di talaga natin masasabi kung kelan babawiin sa atin ni LORD ang buhay na pinahiram nya.

may she rest in peace.

[wreckless]

sad. :cry:

may she rest in peace.
condolence to her family.

[johnart]

I just wonder how come everyone else was able to escape and only she got trapped ?

[Yssa]

my condolence to the family too.

truly, life is full of surprises,good or bad. We may never really know how and when He will get back the life he gave us. Minsan nga, it is so sudden that in a snap of a finger, the life could be taken na.

[theveed]

Johnart: According to the reports ng mga maid and kapatid, they didn't know she came home already, supposedly nagpaalam na late pa uuwi and walang sa kanila (na nasa house) na inexpect na she's home...

(6th UPDATE) THE YOUNGEST daughter of Speaker Jose de Venecia perished in a fire that razed his residence in Dasmariñas Village Thursday night in Makati City.

Ma. Kristina Casimira Perez de Venecia, 16, was trapped on the second floor when the fire gutted the De Venecia mansion, located at Magnolia Street in the upscale residential subdivision, starting at 11:29 PM Thursday.

The body of the young De Venecia, nicknamed "KC," was discovered in her room after firefighters controlled the blaze early Friday morning. According to Superintendent Ruben Morales, Makati District Fire Marshall, KC apparently died from suffocation.

Morales confirmed that the string of Christmas lights coiled around the main staircase was the main cause of the fire. He said the lights were left on for more than a day, causing them to overheat and explode.

According to Noel Albano, the family spokesperson, nobody thought KC was still in the house until her sister received a call from her frantically saying she was trapped in her room, which was located at the farthest end of the second floor hallway.

Albano said KC then wrapped herself in wet blankets and lay down on the bathtub inside her comfort room.

"She tried her very best to save herself," Albano said on GMA Network's "Unang Hirit" morning newscast. He added that the steel window grills, which were standard in all of the rooms in the mansion, had prevented her from escaping.

KC was to have graduated from high school this March, Albano added.

Her remains are being cremated at the Loyola Memorial Chapels in Makati City.

Her wake will be held at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests cash donations for the newly established KC De Venecia Foundation.

The fire first gutted the living room and kitchen of the house before spreading across the entire second floor of the mansion, where the bedrooms of the family members were located. The first floor, where De Venecia's offices are housed, was spared from the blaze.

The Speaker, his wife Gina and other family members were unhurt. They are currently staying at a neighbor's house, Albano said.

[Tifosi]

Nakakagulat naman yan! May she rest in peace.

For all of JDV's money, ba't di man lang niya naisipang lagyan ng fire escape yung mga windows ng house nila? Ang weird talaga. We're not rich, but our house has fire escapes sa lahat ng kwarto. Sabi ko sa nanay ko lagyan nun nung nagparenovate kami ng bahay.

[bilog]

Nakakagulat naman yan! May she rest in peace.

For all of JDV's money, ba't di man lang niya naisipang lagyan ng fire escape yung mga windows ng house nila? Ang weird talaga. We're not rich, but our house has fire escapes sa lahat ng kwarto. Sabi ko sa nanay ko lagyan nun nung nagparenovate kami ng bahay.

may fire escape sila sa mga rooms nila kaya lang sa taranta daw ni kc kaya maaring di na nakuha ang susi.

[Tifosi]

may fire escape sila sa mga rooms nila kaya lang sa taranta daw ni kc kaya maaring di na nakuha ang susi.

Naku, nabasa ko sa Inquirer nakapadlock daw yung fire exit...

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De Venecia loses 'light of my life'

Updated 09:21am (Mla time) Dec 18, 2004
By Margaux Ortiz, Cynthia Balana, Carlito Pablo
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the December 18, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THREE WORDS--and then her cell phone went dead.

"Ate! Help! Help!"

That was the desperate cry that rang through the cell phone of Maria Kristina Casimira "KC" de Venecia , 16-year-old daughter of Speaker Jose de Venecia, on Thursday night as walls of flame turned 2288 Magnolia St., Dasmariñas Village, Makati City, into an inferno.
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:
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House impenetrable
The girl failed to get out of the house because the grand staircase was already engulfed in flames, firemen said.

Unable to get down the staircase, KC apparently then ran to her brother Christopher's bathroom, wrapped herself with a wet blanket and lay in the bathtub in an attempt to protect herself, they said.

Firemen who tried to find KC inside her own room decided to go back outside when the ceiling of the second floor collapsed, fire bureau official Supt. Ruben Morales said.

Another fire official, Chief Insp. Rachel Avilla of the Makati Fire Department, said rescuers found KC around 2 a.m., or 30 minutes before the fire was completely put out.

"We had a hard time getting inside the house because it was practically impenetrable," Avilla said.

Padlocked fire exit
She said that the grills, bulletproof glass windows and sliding doors, and a "padlocked" fire exit made it initially impossible for firemen to reach the second floor and rescue the girl.

Avilla also said the rescuers had a difficult time going inside the house because of the thick smoke coming from the burning curtains and carpet.

"The Speaker [De Venecia] was trying to get us to go inside the house to rescue his daughter after conducting a head count," Avilla said.

The fire official also said KC's sister repeatedly told them that she could hear someone yelling for help.

"She also said she was able to talk to her sister on her cell phone," Avilla said.

It was about 10:45 p.m. when Carissa received a frantic call from a secretary of De Venecia saying a fire had broken out and that the family was looking for KC.

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Kawawa naman siya!

[ghost_2192]

It's very tragic that it has to happen to her, may rest in peace. As a safety precaution siguro wag na lang maglagay ng christmas light sa christmas tree.

[Usting]

Condolence to the family.

Medyo OT po.

Napansin din ni JDV na kulang sa equipments ang mga fire brigade natin at sabi nya na imumungkahi nya sa pangulo na maglaan ng karagdagang budget para rito. Eto ang hirap sa kanilang mga nakapwesto, kung di sila magiging biktima di sila magigising sa katotohanan. Di ba kelan lang ipinalabas sa abscbn ang mga critics tungkol sa mga fire brigade ng Pilipinas, eh may ginawa ba sila rito. Siguro kung mararanasan lang nilang kumalam ang mga sikmura nila dahil sa kahirapan pahahalagahan siguro nila ang mga mahihirap.

[Walter]

Very well said. There's a post or news somewhere that the windows were bullet-proofed that is why the firemen were unable to break the bathroom winows.

[Kicker15]

imagine if you were the one she was talking to on the phone before she died. may her soul rest in peace

[jolog1]

Tama si Yebo, bakit naman walang sprinkler system ang bahay nitong milyonaryo? Bakit walang smoke detector? P800 lang ang smoke detector ngayon, P1500 lang ang top of the line.

[quiksie]

kawawa naman! Kaya ingat po tayo sa mga ilaw at kuryente natin. Condolence jdv

[karlbo]

kawawa ng atalaga... 8days b4 xmas nangyari pa yun....


ng dahil sa xmas lights.....

[wildthing]

I'd say maraming mali dun sa situasyon....probably a cheap xmas lights, over-protected house barrier (bakit ka pa naglagay ng fire escape kung ipapadlock mo rin), bullet proof glass (wow! ganun ba karami galit sa to have this type of protection), no sprinkler system (nakaka-afford ng bullet-proof windows pero a sprinker hinde)....I'd say it is just plain stupidity from her parents which killed the poor girl....just my 2 cents. peace

[yebo]

so maybe we better take this incident as a lesson for all of us! as a gift to our families this xmas, let's all buy smoke/fire deterctors and fire extinguishers. abc fire extinguishers cost only p1500-p3000 each at ace.

ako meron na, isang smoke detector sa kitchen, isa sa 2nd floor corridor, and all the rooms (just above the door para pagpasok pa lang ng smoke na-detect na). may 2 fire extinguishers din sa kitchen, and believe it or not, a 3/4 inch 20 meter long fiberglass fire hose at the second floor hidden inside the double walling of the family room. this fire hose is directly connected to a 2 cubic meter tank with a booster pump which is separately wired from the rest of the house, and also connected to the mwss line via a check valve (para may pressure pa din kahit walang electric power and also hindi bumabalik yung pressure sa mwss pag umaandar yung booster pump). it's easy to do with off the shelf components at your suking hardware. pm me with your email address if you want a diagram. it does not violate the mwss prohibition on booster pumps since it is not directly connected to suction from the mwss supply. even if you just use a 1/2 inch garden hose it's better than nothing, as long as you locate it in the living areas where you will need it most during a fire.

i plan to buy next emergency escape smoke hoods, one for each member of the family to be kept in the rooms. it's like a disposable gas mask that you slip over your head with a high temperature plastic visor and a filter, brand name is EVAC-U-8. problem lang is kung meron available sa pinas. reading that news about kc de venecia reminded me that most fire victims die of suffocation, something i did not prepared for. paranoid ako ano?