THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is looking into reports that the fire on Thursday, October 12, that destroyed 41 houses and displaced 89 families in barangays 22 and 26 was due to cooking left unattended.
Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Dennis Dales said a witness recounted that the fire started at the kitchen of the house of a certain Semi Cairel.
But Dales admitted that it is difficult to determine the exact cause of the fire since most of the physical evidence have been reduced to ashes.
"Our last chance is to interview the witness and find the owner of the house to tell us what happened inside the house, kay naay gaingon na walay tao ang balay atong higayona," Dales said.
Meanwhile, officials of both city and provincial government are distributing relief goods to victims of the fire.
City Social Welfare Chief Teddy Sabuga-a said the city has distributed food, kitchen utensils, and sleeping materials, among others to the affected families.
Sabuga-a said the fire affected many families as getting inside the area was not easy because of narrow streets.
"Kung wala lang unta naglisod ug sulod ang atong mga bombero, they could have saved more houses, pero lage kay lisod ang dalan, it was hard for them,. Maayo nalang naa ang atong linear park project, dako kaayo ug tabang kay didto gyud nakaagi ang firetruck," Sabuga-a said.
"Hinaut nga ang mga residente manguna sa pagpasabot sa mga tao unsa ka importante ang linear park, ilabina sa mga higayon sa mga sunog kay guot gyud ang dalan diha. So maayo unta maintain sad ang kalimpyo sa creek diha," he added.
City Councilor Reuben Daba, chairman of the committee on social welfare, for his part said he will coordinate with the City Housing Department to provide affected families with decent houses.
"Mag-rebuild man gyud ng mga residente so, we will try nga kung makasugod sila, plastar na gyud sila, ug dili na tapad or sikit kaayo ang mga balay kay bisan ako pagsuroy nako sa area, there's a part there na wala ko kasigo," he said.
"We need wider roads in the urban areas, roads that are enough for a fire truck especially to fit," he added.