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27 homeless after fire hits Garapan building
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Posted on Jul 07 2008
A fire of still unknown cause razed a portion of a commercial building along Middle Road corner Dama Di Noche Street in Garapan yesterday afternoon, rendering 27 persons homeless.
No one was reported hurt, based on the initial assessment by police and firefighters.
Saipan Tribune learned that the fire started inside one of the 14 rooms on the second floor of the three-story building. The rooms were reportedly being used as a barracks by some Chinese.
Witnesses said the fire started at 4:30pm. No one was inside the room because of an outage at the time.
The American Red Cross has already provided food and drinks to the affected occupants. All 27 are being temporarily housed at the Century Hotel in Garapan. Red Cross officials said they would be shouldering the hotel expenses of the victims for two to three days.
Li Ping Chou, owner and manager of New Corner Pocket Pool Bar and Restaurant, which is on the ground floor of the same building, said she had left her establishment at 4pm because there was a blackout.
Chou said she was buying some items at SunLeader when somebody told her that her place was on fire.
“When I came, I couldn’t go inside because there was smoke on the second floor and it’s dangerous,” she said.
Chou said some Chinese persons occupy the second floor.
Firefighters prevented the blaze from transferring to other establishments in the building such as Piano Poker, Fun and Game Poker, and Club China.
The building is reportedly owned by a Korean businessman who also operates the HANMI Hardware.
When Saipan Tribune left the scene at 5:30pm thick smoke was still engulfing the second floor of the building. Police rerouted the traffic flow in the vicinity of the building.
