Inferno razes 8 houses in Oro

SOME P600,000 worth of property was damaged in a pre-dawn fire that hit eight houses in a residential area in Barangay 36, Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday.

No one was reported injured in the fire that broke out around 3:15 a.m.

Some residents manage to gather their personal belongings when a fire broke out in Barangay 36 on Tuesday dawn. The fire damaged at least P600,000 worth of property and affected around 76 individuals. (Joey P. Nacalaban)

District Fire Marshal Shirley Teleron said the fire allegedly started at the house of a certain Apolonia Cañete.

The blaze reached the second alarm before it was put out at 3:45 a.m.

Teleron said at least eight houses were burned down, based on their initial investigation.

She said six of the eight houses were burned while the two were damaged.

Teleron said that though firefighters easily entered the area, most of the houses were made of light materials, thus it spread quickly to adjacent houses.

Arson investigators are still verifying the cause of the fire.

Teleron said the family of Cañete is only using gas lamp since they have no electricity since November.

“But we are still investigating the incident and we cannot tell yet the real cause of the fire,” she said.

Initial listing of the City Social Welfare and Development showed that at least 74 individuals, mostly renters, were affected by the fire, including two barangay officials. They are now temporarily staying at the covered court of Barangay 24. (Annabelle L. Ricalde)