Courage Under FIRE

I was in deep sleep last night when a shout of Tita F (a roommate) awakened us in the room all at once. She said, "girls, nasusunog tayo." I stood up immediately. Our room was filled of dark smokes. There was a strong smell, like that of a burning plastic. I could hardly breathe. Not knowing what to do, i hurried to our balcony to get some air. Our room is in the 2nd floor of the villa. I was scared. I was trembling. I was thinking we need to go out of the house to be safe. I thought of tying our blankets to the balcony to be able to go down (ala Rapunzel). I took my bag/wallet with me. I searched for my passport in the darkness (i was thinking my upcoming vacation in Sept will be jeopardized without it). I know where I put it so in just maybe 3 seconds i was ready to leave the house.

We heard a housemate asking us to call the emergency number in Dubai- 999. Ate T (another roommate) called the number and immediately reported the fire incident. She's panicking, she can't talk clearly. She gave the phone to another housemate to explain what's happening inside our villa. Another housemate called for a flashlight because all our lights were shut down at this time. I remembered we had a flashlight in our cabinet so i run to give it to him.

Just outside our room were my brave men housemates trying to put out the fire in the next room. I saw the spirit of 'Bayanihan' in them. Their presence of minds were unquestionable. They worked hand in hand in bringing all the water available to contain the fire. They were courageous enough to save our lives and our house. (i'm really thankful that we have men housemates). Through their concerted efforts, the fire was gone in 4 minutes and did not run from room to room. Thank you housemates for saving all our lives!

My roommates and I (4 of us) were still in the balcony. As for me, i was just waiting for my roommates' go signal for us to evacuate the house thru the balcony. Then a housemate told us everything is okay now. The fire has gone. We could now leave the room thru our staircases. I felt relieved.

Few seconds after, the Emergency Team of Dubai arrived - Fire Dept, Ambulance, Civil Defense and Police Dept. In fairness to the Team, they are actually fast in their emergency response.

I learned that the fire started in the bathroom due to a faulty wiring as per initial investigation. At 2am in the morning, all the housemates of Villa 7B were still awake and were in front of our house. The authorities began their investigation about the fire. The tenants of the other room were asked a few questions. There was an instance that Dubai Police asked for a representative of each room in the villa (total 8 rooms-4 upstairs; 4 downstairs). I was volunteered by my roommates. They were all scared. I was scared too but maybe i appeared to them less scared. The investigation lasted for 2 hours. After that, the Police told us that it is now safe to go back to our house. The lights downstairs were up. But there will be no lights upstairs (where our room is located). At 4am, now inside our room, everyone's still awake. No lights, No A/C but thankful we're all alive. Thank you, Lord.