ELEVEN houses were destroyed after a fire broke out in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City yesterday morning, in an interior community that firefighters couldn’t directly reach because of a creek.
It took firefighters 20 minutes to declare the fire in Sitio Sampaguita under control, after they received the call for help at 11:23 a.m.
Firefighters pegged the damage at P250,000, but investigators still have to confirm what caused the fire.
About two hours before that, a fire blamed on an electrical short circuit damaged a house in a subdivision in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City.
Firefighters quickly put out the flames that engulfed the two-story house of Lorgina Sayson in Deca Homes 2 past 9 a.m.
In the Capitol Site case, the fire reportedly started in the house occupied by Carlito Capa, while he was away from home.
The house reportedly belongs to Rodolfo Quilala and is surrounded by houses made of light materials, located just across a creek.
In order to control the fire quickly, firefighters positioned themselves at the Philippine-Chinese Temple on the other side of the creek.
Fire investigators were able to talk to a five-year-old, who reportedly said that his playmates and cousins were playing with a candle before the fire started.
Residents also told firefighters that they thought two children were trapped by the fire inside the house, but an investigator learned that some of the neighbors had rescued the children.
Leonila Iwayan, whose house the fire destroyed, said she was fetching her son from school when the fire started.
“Wala na gyud ko’y naabtan. Naugdaw tanan (I lost everything),” she added.
In Lapu-Lapu City, fire investigators estimated the damage caused by the fire at P50,000. No one was injured.
FO3 Climaco Salisid said the flames started from a division wall on the second floor of the semi-concrete house.
Firefighters stopped the fire from spreading after a minute and put it out in 30 minutes.
Last Dec. 30, a fire also gutted a house and damaged another one in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.
The fire was blamed on a lit candle that a seven-year-old girl played with. Damage was pegged at P80,000.