AN OFFICIAL of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Davao said a total of 133 houses were engulfed by a massive fire that hit Purok 2, Punta Dumalag, Barangay Matina Aplaya, Davao City Thursday morning, August 22.
Senior Fire Officer 2 Ramil Gillado, Investigation Section chief of BFP-Davao, said Thursday, August 22, that the fire was first reported at 8:26 a.m. The fire originated from the house of a certain Maricel Barcenas.
Of the 133 houses hit, 132 were destroyed and one was damaged. At least 159 families were displaced.
Gillado said the Davao City Social Services and Development Office is still validating the numbers.
Given the scope of the fire, the alarm was raised to third, with no fatalities recorded.
Gillado said one person was injured in the incident. He identified the victim as Junrey Lape, 30, who suffered a laceration on his left leg.
The fire was declared under control at 9:13 a.m. and fire out at 11:07 a.m. The damage was pegged at P1.3 million.
The fire was quick to spread to other houses because some structures were made of light materials.
Gillado said they are looking at electrical arc as the possible cause of the blaze.
He said that for August alone, the BFP-Davao has recorded a total of 24 fire incidents in Davao City. From January to present, 332 fire incidents were recorded with estimated overall damage amounting to P72.4 million.
Authorities have reminded the public anew to be fire safety conscious to prevent similar incidents.