FIREFIGHTERS rescued three teenagers during a fire that razed five houses and an eatery on Duterte St., Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
The fire broke out less than 24 hours after another fire hit a docked cargo vessel in Mandaue City, in the final week of another busy Fire Prevention Month.
The fire in Guadalupe was the eighth “working fire” Cebu City’s firefighters dealt with this month.
In a phone interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Chief Insp. Rogelio Bongabong Jr., the fire marshal, said the firefighters rescued three boarders trapped on the ground and third floors of an apartment.
The two girls and a boy, ages 17 to 19, did not suffer major injuries, but inhaled some smoke. Medical personnel took care of them.
“Naa’y mga boarders nakasulti namo nga naay nabilin sa sulod, mao tong among giadto (Their fellow boarders told us there were still people inside, so we searched for them). Wala dayon sila kagawas tungod na sa kabaga sa aso (They failed to go out right away because of the thick smoke),” said Bongabong.
He also said the blaze allegedly started in the kitchen of an eatery owned by Noah Verano. The eatery was in an extension of Verano’s house, located by the side of the road.
Location helped
The flames, fanned by wind, quickly spread to other parts of the neighborhood, destroying four other houses and damaging an apartment. The structures were mostly made of light materials.
Bongabong pegged the damage to property at P200,000.
The official, however, said that their investigation will continue. He said that firefighters encountered no difficulties in putting out the flames because the affected houses were near the main road.
The fire department received the call for help at 4:52 p.m. Eighteen minutes later, firefighters declared the flames under control, meaning these could no longer spread to other structures.
As of 7:54 p.m., Sun.Star Cebu tried to interview Guadalupe Barangay Captain Michael Gacasan on his cellular phone, but he could not be reached.
At 9 p.m. last Thursday, a report from the Mabolo Police Station stated that a golf cart caught fire inside the Cebu Country Club in Barangay Kasambagan.
Firefighters put out the flames in 10 minutes.
Welding
Less than three hours later, a docked cargo vessel caught fire in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City.
No one was reported hurt.
SFO2 Nilo Cosido of the Mandaue City Fire Department said sparks from welding ignited the fire on the M/V Chelsa 3, owned by Titan Shipping.
The vessel was docked at the Ouano Wharf.
The Fire Department received a call for help around 11:45 p.m. Firefighters stopped the fire from spreading within 10 minutes and put out the flames after 35 minutes.
Cosido said that some of the vessel’s crew members were welding when the fire occurred below the deck on the front portion of the vessel.
Cosido said the damage was negligible, as only waste materials were burned.
Firefighters in Metro Cebu have been busy since the start of Fire Prevention Month, with fires reported almost every day.
Fire officials have advised the public to take more precautions against fire with the onset of summer, which entails increased use of appliances.