OVER a hundred individuals lost their homes after a huge fire, which lasted for more than 10 hours, razed over 20 houses along Lizada Street, Barangay 26-C, Davao City Tuesday morning.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Davao City recorded it as the 46th fire incident in the city this year, 27 of which were reported in January alone while 19 transpired this month. Most of the fire incidents attributed electrical failure as the main cause.
Compared to the same period last year, there are 54 fire incidents in January 2016 alone while 56 in February.
The fire left hundreds of individuals seeking temporary shelter in evacuation areas.
According to the Davao City Social Service and Development Office (CSSDO), which is monitoring the fire victims, they tallied 24 homeowners; four sharers, 27 renters and 70 boarders who were affected by the 4 a.m. fire.
CSSDO Poblacion-B District Social Worker Welfare Officer Virginia Bautista said that they immediately went to the affected area and conducted relief operation to fire victims.
Rufina Birongoy, 46, one of the victims of the fire incident, could still not believe her house was gutted down.
She said that she secured her grandchildren and vacated the area for fear of being trapped in the fire. She said that their lives are still more precious than their belongings.
BFP Davao Fire and Arson Investigator Senior Fire Officer 2 Ramil Gillado said the fire started inside the house of Mark Anthony Mersido and spread to several houses and two other establishments with an estimated damage of more than P1 million.
"Ongoing pa 'yung overhauling process to ensure na wala ng apoy medyo mahirap lang kasi siya mapasok na building kasi may mga stocks pero na confine na natin 'yung fire," he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and they are validating the information they gathered from the residents.
In line with their fire awareness advocacy, he said that BFP Davao is closely coordinating with village officials in conducting fire safety awareness seminars in the community to arm the public with adequate knowledge on how to prevent or avoid fire incidents.