3 fires in 24 hours

THREE fires struck within less than 24 hours, including a fierce blaze in Mandaue City last Monday night that left some 900 individuals homeless.

About 110 houses, mostly made of light materials, were razed by a fire in Sitio Kalubihan Dos, Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City late Monday night.

The next day, fire hit a business establishment along M.J. Cuenco Ave., Cebu City and took away almost P3.5 million worth of properties. A third fire hit a home in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue.

It took firefighters in Umapad four hours to subdue the flames, but roughly 900 individuals were left homeless.

The fire, raised to Task Force Alpha, damaged an estimated P1.1 million worth of properties in the densely populated area.

SFO1 Cipriano Codilla Jr. of Mandaue City Fire Station said they received the alarm at 8:50 p.m. last Monday.

Several fire stations and volunteer brigades from neighboring cities and towns helped in extinguishing the flames, a task they completed at 12:55 a.m. yesterday.

Initial investigation revealed the fire allegedly started on the second floor of Antonieto and Myrna Calida’s house.

An unattended candle following a brownout was eyed as the cause of the incident.

Umapad Barangay Captain Nelson Rubio, in an interview, said they held an emergency meeting yesterday for the release of calamity funds to buy housing materials.

Violeta Cavada, officer-in-charge of Mandaue City Social Welfare Services (CSWS), said they will be handing temporary aid such as clothes and packed food to the fire victims.

About 141 house owners and 74 renters or shares were displaced by the incident.

Jesus Taboada, 41, told Sun.Star Cebu he felt sorry about losing a deceased child’s book collection in the flames.

They belonged to his daughter Grace Ann, who died last 2009 of heart complication.

“Mao ‘to iyang pabilin namo. Gusto niya gamiton ‘to sa iyang mga manghod (She left us her books because she wanted to make sure her younger sister would use them),” Taboada said.

Her job

Rosalie Menoria, 53, recalled how she and her family were almost trapped by the fire.

Menoria had to climb a wall, followed by her grandchildren, to be saved from the flames.

“Kung nagpadala pa ko sa akong mga sakit, paig nata mi karon (If I had let my illness take over, I’d be a charred pile now),” she said.

Menoria revealed that she and her neighbors, who occupy a private lot, used to hold night watches to prevent accidents like fire.

“Karon, ang among mga hinaguan tanan, nawagtang lang sa usa ka kidlap sa mata (Everything we worked hard to keep was gone in the blink of an eye),” she added.

In a separate incident, a fire broke out in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City early yesterday morning and gutted a house.

Firefighters rushed to the alarm at 6:57 a.m., to the house reportedly owned by Prudence Zabate.

An electrical short circuit was seen as the cause of the blaze that damaged an estimated P30,000. No one was reported injured.

Relief

The Provincial Government sent relief assistance yesterday to the fire victims in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City.

Provincial Social Welfare Office administrative officer Wilson Ramos said 50 sacks of rice, 25 cartons of canned goods and 25 sacks of used clothing were initially delivered there.

He added that Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district), One Cebu Party gubernatorial aspirant, will also give away relief assistance to the place.

Fire hit a business establishment along M.J. Cuenco Ave., Cebu City, taking away almost P3.5 million worth of properties.

The fire started in Modern Metal Marketing, a business establishment that sells tires, paints and stainless metal.

The general alarm fire yesterday reportedly started in the second floor of the two-storey building.

Protection

The Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) 7 received the alarm at 1:08 p.m. and it was under control after 25 minutes, according to Lowel Opolenticima of the BFP 7.

The building is situated at M.J. Cuenco corner Urdaneta St., Barangay San Roque, Cebu City, just across the Plaza Independencia.

The two-storey building rented by the hardware is reportedly owned by a certain Joshua Lim. Lim declined to comment to the media yesterday.

Opolenticima said they will still have to investigate further on the cause of the fire.

Different fire stations in the city, including the neighboring cities Mandaue and Talisay City, responded.

Opolenticima added that the fire reportedly spread because the contents of the hardware are highly combustible.

Caution

The second floor of the building was also burned as there were cans of paint that were placed there.

However, he added that the fire was contained since there was a firewall at the back of the building.

The fire also caused heavy traffic in the area. The roads in front of the fire scene were closed for half an hour so that the fire trucks could go through the fire scene immediately.

Minutes after the fire started, heavy rains also poured, which helped put out the fire.

According to Loreta Cruz, one of the salesladies in the hardware, she heard a loud explosion on the second floor, causing her to run outside.

She said in a radio report that after the explosion, the fire immediately spread. She said some of their stocks on the first floor were saved as it was only partially burned.

No one was injured nor killed during the incident.