Students of Colegio de Sta. Rita whose historic main building was gutted by fire Monday night, August 14, have launched a fund raising drive for the school.
Chief Inspector Rufino Tañedo, San Carlos City fire marshal, placed the damage to the historic building built in 1933 at an initial P18 million.
The fire began at the accounting office and they were still determining what caused it, Tañedo said.
Destroyed in the blaze were the accounting office, treasurer’s office, classrooms and the area where the Augustinian Recollect Sisters who run the college reside, he said.
The fire spread fast because the building is made mostly of wood, he added.
The firefighters managed to prevent the fire from hitting the Registrar’s Office and the Nursing Laboratory located at the back of the building, he said.
They protected the rest of the school buildings and neighboring San Carlos Borromeo Cathedral, Tañedo said.
The Agustinian Recollect Student Crusaders – CSR Chapter in a Facebook page fundraising drive said: “We are in great need of support to aid us in reinstating our beloved institution to its former glory”.
“We accept any donation in any amount and form. We are grateful to you all in abundance, and may your blessings reach greater causes,” they said.
They also said there were malicious comments on Facebook in reaction to a photo showing what looked like a person looking out of a window of the burning building.
“It is the statue of St. Rita, which had been located inside the school’s chapel for many years already. We urge you all to be wary of any misinformation and spread awareness. We do not want our school to be aligned with malice or superstition,” they said.
San Carlos Mayor Renato Gustilo on Monday night said “seeing this iconic building ablaze saddens me so much, just like all of us. It has long been the city’s mighty edifice for decades, that resembled as a great institution of quality Christian education that shaped thousands of lives”.*