WHEN her phone’s charger sparked while it was plugged at home, Stella Rontal had no idea it would cause a fire that would destroy 21 houses and damage five others in Sitio Laray, Barangay San Roque, Talisay City.
“Mao na lang nabantayan nako, nagsugod na’g silaob ang kayo (In one glance, all I saw was a thick fire growing),” Stella, 39, said.
The fire started at 9:37 a.m. and ended an hour and three minutes later.
Her 18-year-old son Aljun was injured when he leaped out of their window to escape. He suffered lacerations on his feet and injuries around his waist.
A burnt roof panel almost hit 18-year-old Ella Jane Quimada on the head before it fell and injured her right foot.
Advisory
Homeowners should not leave their electronics plugged during the day, especially now with the weather so hot, said SFO4 Sherwin Jabil Algoso, fire investigator of the Talisay City Fire Station.
“antayan gyod nato ang paggamit nato sa atong appliances, labi na og dili original, kanang mga (We should not leave behind our appliances plugged, especially those that are) China-made,” Algoso advised.
Because it was an electricity-related fire incident, flames were quick to spread across houses, causing structural damage worth at least P100,000 in less than 10 minutes, he said.
Stella admitted her charger was cheap. She had been using it for more than a year. She, however, could not be sure if it was made in China or Taiwan.
When the fire broke out, Aljun was sleeping on the second level of their wooden house. His grandmother Lucita Cabamo, 63, was washing their clothes when she heard Stella scream for help.
Task Force Alpha
“Ma, gawas! Naa’y sunog (Ma, get out! There’s a fire),” she recalled hearing.
Cabamo lamented the delayed response of firefighters. It took them them awhile to arrive, she said.
Algoso declared a Task Force Alpha, meaning it was a big fire that required fire trucks of other cities and towns to respond.
“Disgrasya gyod ni, wala’y gusto nga masunog. Usa’g tunga sa oras una pa naabot ang mga bombero. Wala na! Ugdaw na among balay pag abot nila (No one wanted this to happen. It took them one and a half hour to arrive. By the time they got here, all our houses had been razed),” Cabamo said.
The first to respond was the fire truck of Cebu City, since firemen had thought the fire scene was part of Barangay Inayawan.
Stella’s husband was at work when the fire broke out. He was told by phone that his house had been destroyed.
“Ugdaw gyod. Wala gyo’y nahibilin sa amoa bisan sanina (Nothing was left. Not even our clothes),” he said.
It was the first fire in Talisay City this month, according to Algoso. Vaña Ferre Comendador Abella, USJ-R Mass Comm intern