Talk about being prepared.

Students and teachers of a school in Barangay Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City had just completed the holding of a fire drill when an actual fire hit their school on Friday morning, Sept. 15.

The Quezon City Fire District (QCFD) said the fire at Starland International School (Pre-school to Senior High School) on 12th Avenue was raised to the first alarm at around 9:01 a.m.

It escalated to the second alarm at around 9:16 a.m.

The fire was declared under control at around 9:57 a.m. and was extinguished at around 10:18 a.m.

In an interview with reporters, QCFD Station 3 commander  Senior Fire Insp. Sherwin Penafiel said that there were around 175 teachers and students inside the school when the incident happened.

He added that the blaze started right after the students and school personnel finished conducting a fire drill (a simulation/practice of evacuation and emergency response procedures during fire and other incidents).

The students and teachers immediately evacuated to a mall near the school when the incident happened. 

He also lauded the school administration for the conduct of the fire drill as no one was reported injured among the teachers and learners. 

“Buti nga nagkaroon sila ng ganoon (fire drill). So after ng fire drill, pumasok yung mga bata sa loob ng school, nagkaroon ng break. After ng break nagkaroon ng sunog sa storage sa likod ng kindergarten classroom (It's good that they just had a fire drill. So after the fire drill, the children entered the school to take a break. After the break, fire started at the storage behind the kindergarten classroom)” Penafiel said.

He said that school supplies were stored in the room where the blaze originated from. 

“So usually po, kapag nagkaroon sila ng fire drill, dapat may coordination sa Bureau of Fire. Pero this time po, di sila nagcoordinate sa amin (So usually when they have a fire drill, there should be coordination with the Bureau of Fire. But this time they did not coordinate with us),” he added. 

The fire station commander said that although the school's management failed to coordinate with them on the conduct of the fire drill, he would have preferred that the school coordinates with them. 

He added that no flammable materials were lit during the fire drill and the students were only taught how to evacuate safely. 

According to the fire station commander, the two-storey building used to be a house with some parts made of light material. The house was converted into a school. 

Authorities have yet to determine the amount of damage to property and the cause of the fire. 

“Mahalaga po tayong magkaroon ng fire drill sa mga establishment lalo na sa mga schools, para mafamiliarize ang mga bata kung anong gagawin nila at saan sila pupunta in case magkaroon ng alarma (It is important that we have fire drills in establishments, especially in schools, so that children can familiarize themselves with the protocol and where to go in case of an alarm),” Penafiel said.