THE Lapu-Lapu City Fire District (LCFD) is looking at a butane canister that exploded and electrical misuse as the possible cause of the fire that killed two persons in Barangay Canjulao last Tuesday.
SFO4 Amelito Bitoy, an investigator of LCFD, said the flames started in the house of Edna Ycong in Purok Kapayas.
Ycong was the mother of 14-year-old Jane and daughter of 85-year-old Aurea Jumao-as, who were trapped on the second floor of their house. Jane had special needs while Jumao-as could barely walk.
“Our problem in the area was the narrow road,” Bitoy said. With the help of the penetrator truck, they were able to put out the fire.
Based on the records of the LCFD, 14 houses were destroyed in Canjulao.
u00a0The Lapu-Lapu City Government already extended assistance to the fire survivors in the three barangays that were affected by fire last Monday and Tuesday. Food, water, clothing and medicines were distributed.
Mayor Paz Radaza gave P16,000 as her personal donation to the family of the fatalities in Canjulao through Barangay Captain Nestor Paypa yesterday morning.
Radaza reiterated his request to barangay captains and authorities concerned to apprehend people who sell and use liquified petroleum gas (LPG)-refilled butane canisters.
“We have an existing ordinance prohibiting the use, sale and transport of butane canisters filled with LPG because these endanger the lives of the individuals,” said Radaza.
In an interview, Paypa said there were 21 families or 106 individuals who were temporarily evacuated to Canjulao Elementary School.
In an interview, Ycong said that they used an LPG tank for cooking at home, and not butane canisters.
Their appliances were also unplugged when the fire struck.
She added that the explosion heard inside her house was probably their computer and television that were no longer used.