A FOUR-MONTH-OLD baby boy died in a fire in Sitio San Miguel in Barangay Lorega, Cebu City early this morning.
The body of John Carlo Paragoso was found by firefighters under the rubble after the two-storey house where the fire originated gave way.
The blaze gutted 10 houses and displaced 45 families or 160 individuals, according to the report of Cebu City Government's Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS).
SFO3 Lowel Opolentisima, investigator of Cebu City Fire Station, said the cause can be traced to electrical short circuit or overloading.
The house, owned by Evelyn Paragoso, runs coin-operated computer machines that offer Internet services and arcade games.
Opolentisima said they received the call for help at 6:30 a.m. and raised it to second alarm, which means all of the city's firetrucks responded.
The fire was controlled at 6:56 a.m. and snuffed out at 8:54 a.m. Damage to property was pegged at P150,000.
Interviewed today by reporters, the boy's father Ryan said he and his three children were sleeping when he saw flames inside their room.
Waking up confused of what was happening, Ryan immediately took his two children, ages four and one, outside.
“When I went back in to save John Carlo, the house already gave way,” he said.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, for his part, said they will help provide financial assistance to the boy's family.
“The City will never run away from it,” he said.
A plan to reblock the fire site, even before today's incident happened, has already been set by the City Government.
“We cannot have another kid dying because of difficulty (of access to) the area,” Rama added.