|
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Fire destroys 100 houses
CEBU CITY -- At least 100 homes in Sitio Lupa Bontores, Barangay San Nicolas, this city were razed Tuesday in an afternoon fire believed caused by four children reportedly playing with matches.
Damaged to property was pegged at P3 million.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers
There were no reported casualties but one of the four children was taken to the Cebu City Medical Center after suffering burns, said Barangay Captain Dave Tumulak of the neighboring Basak Pardo.
Tumulak and the barangay's emergency rescue team were among those who responded to the alarm.
A member of the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) identified as Danilo Wamelda, 29, who is detailed at the Cebu City Hall administrative department, was accosted and brought to the Pardo Police Station after punching FO1 Aaron Clint Berin in the nape.
Wamelda, whose house was also razed by the fire, reportedly hit Berin because he wanted the fireman to prioritize saving his house.
P03 Richard Tagadiad of the Pardo Police Station, who investigated the incident, told Sun.Star Cebu that Berin forgave and decided not to press a complaint against Wamelda.
The Cebu City Fire Department received the alarm at 2:28 p.m.
The firefighting lasted for more than an hour before Chief Inspector Victor Vibares, acting Cebu City fire marshal, declared the blaze under control.
Fire trucks from as far as Consolacion town and Lapu-Lapu City and a firefighting team from the Philippine Air Force aided in putting off the fire, aside from firemen of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation and the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Vibares placed the fire under general alarm as it hit the innermost portion of Sitio Lupa.
He estimated the fire scene to be about 500 meters away from the highway.
While water supply was not a problem in the firefighting, both Vibares and SFO2 Alikasem Espinola said access road was the primary problem they encountered. Strong winds also fanned the fire that quickly spread to the houses.
Most of the fire trucks stayed along the highway. Firemen had to connect the hoses to penetrate the fire scene, which Vibares said was time-consuming.
Espinola, in a separate interview, said most of the structures razed by the fire were made of light materials.
Espinola added that he is verifying the reports that the fire was caused by the four children allegedly playing matches at the house of Leonora Tabor.
Tabor was out of the house when the fire broke out, Espinola said.
Espinola said that so far, there were at least three witnesses who pointed to the house of Tabor as the origin of the fire.
He said he would be inviting the witnesses and the house owner to help in the investigation.
Basak San Nicolas Barangay Captain George Rama, who personally supervised in ensuring that proper assistance will be extended to his constituents, said in an interview that for the meantime, the victims will be temporarily sheltered in a vacant lot in Sitio Lupa.
He said they are still preparing the nearest basketball courts by putting up tents that will serve as temporary evacuation center.
He also said that the barangay council will convene on Wednesday for a session to declare Sitio Lupa a calamity area. This way, the barangay will be able to use its calamity fund to extend assistance to the displaced families.
As of last night, Rama said they are still in the process of listing down the total number of families affected by the fire. (Jovy Taghoy-Gerodias/Sun.Star Cebu) For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (November 19, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Bolante denies knowledge on 30% cut