Over P1 million lost in subdivision blaze

Over a million pesos in property went up in smoke Saturday night in a fire that hit five houses inside St. Jude Acres Subdivision in barangay Bulacao, Cebu City.

The fire reportedly started at the house of Vivian Villaluz, owner of V. Joy''s Catering Services. The fire alarm was raised at 7:58 p.m. and the firemen put it under control in 14 minutes.

SFO2 Allih-Kasem Espinola of the city fire department said that aside from the house of Villaluz, four other houses were also damaged by the fire. The initial estimate of the damage is P1.2 million.

Aside from that of Villaluz, the house of Joan Lee was also reported by the fire department to have been totally burned. The sources at the fire department said they were yet to ascertain the ownership of the three partially burned structures.

Several vehicles owned by Villaluz were also damaged when the fire broke out. These were an Isuzu Crosswind, a Fuso Canter, and a Honda Civic.

Fire investigators said that Villaluz and her workers were not at the house when the incident happened since there was an event that they were attending as caterers.

SFO1 Carlito Sablayan sustained a wound on his left forefinger after he was hit by a fallen galvanized iron sheet while responding to the blaze.

Espinola said that the narrow road hampered the quickness of the firefighters in responding to the alarm.

Firefighters had to connect their hoses to reach the fire scene due to the lack of a better access said Espinola.

The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire even if there are initial findings that point to a fault in the electrical wiring as the reason that started it. - Flor Z. Perolina/NLQ