Saturday, October 13, 2007 Ma, 3 kids die in dawn fire
A FIRE ended the lives of a woman and her three children in Looc, Lapu-Lapu City before dawn yesterday.
Firemen suspect the blaze, which quickly engulfed their home, was triggered by an electrical overload—like a TV set that had not been unplugged.
This theory was bolstered by the househelp’s statement.
Cheryl Catausan, 17, said she awoke to find smoke in her room. She got up to see where this was coming from and discovered the middle column and the plywood ceiling of the house already in flames.
Killed in the fire were Merceditha Flores, 36, and her children Jade Lawrence, 14; Harold Philip, eight; and Lloyd Jennil, one.
Merceditha’s husband Jonathan was at work.
Their daughter Jessamae, 10, survived with minor injuries.
She and Catausan were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Jonathan admitted that members of his household were watching TV the night before. Past 3 a.m., he received a phone call from his brother-in-law informing him that their place was in flames.
He said the middle column of his house where the fire started had an electrical outlet where the TV was plugged.
“At first they didn’t tell me that it was our house that burned down because they didn’t want me to panic,” he said in Cebuano.
The Lapu-Lapu City Fire Department received the alarm at 2:55 a.m. and had it under control in two minutes. Damage to property was placed at P200,000.
Fire investigator Rodulfo Apa said the concrete wall helped keep the fire from spreading.
Merceditha had two brothers living nearby, but they and other neighbors were unable to help her because the fire was too big and spread too fast.
Merceditha died trying to save her children.
She was found in the living room, while her children were in their bedroom.
“She had already gotten out but she want back in to look for her children,” Catausan said in Cebuano.
Catausan’s scream alerted Merceditha to the fire. She got out of bed and dragged Jessamae out of the house.
She went back for her other children, but thick smoke prevented her from finding them.
Firemen found her body in the living room. They believe she died from smoke inhalation.
The City Government was quick to extend help to the surviving members of the Flores family.
Senior Social Welfare Officer Letecia Patalinhug said they will be able to give burial and shelter assistance to Jonathan but not until November, when the election ban ends.
The one-story house had two rooms. The couple pooled their salaries to build it.
“We worked really hard for our children’s future. We sent them to a private school so they could get a good education… and they end up dying a horrible death,” he said in Cebuano. (AIV)
