P1.3 million lost in Davao City fire

SOME P1.3 million worth of property were damaged in separate fire incidents that hit three houses and four business establishments in Davao City on Saturday.

The first incident happened in Talusa, Talomo around 11 a.m.

Based on initial investigation conducted by Talomo Police Chief Inspector Maximiano Atuel, the fire started in a room at the second floor of the house of one Lolita Avila Balaba, a 67-year-old housewife.

The estimated damage at the house of Balaba was P200,000, while two other house owned by Rogelio Mariquit and Canoto Limot were also affected causing damages worth P100,000 and P25,000, respectively.

Further investigation revealed that the blaze started when the grandson of Balaba was left unattended while playing with matches. The fire easily spread as the house of Balaba was made of light materials.

Talomo firefighters, Central 911 fire fighters and Volunteer Fire Brigade responded to the scene and put out the fire around 11:30 a.m.

The other incident happened around 2 p.m. on Km. 11, Sasa.

Initial investigation conducted by Senior Inspector Carlito Apilat revealed that the fire broke out at Jojo Eatery and spread to the adjacent establishments, including a tailoring owned by one Peter Lou Tangcay, a sari-sari store owned by Demetrio Balagat and another eatery owned by Edwin Lagarte.

The estimated damages to property were around P1 million.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Panacan also conducted an investigation and found out that the fire was caused by an LPG tank explosion at Jojo eatery.

BFP Lanang and Central 911 firefighters proceeded to the scene and put out the fire around 2:55 p.m.

No casualty was reported in both incidents. (Ruji Peter S. Abat)