CEBU, Philippines – Forty-four houses were destroyed in a fire yesterday afternoon in sitio Sapa-Sapa II, barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City.
The fire was called in around 4:40 p.m. and was considered under control around 5:10 p.m.
FO3 Cipriano Codilla, investigator of Mandaue fire station, said the fire was caused by two kids who were playing with matches at the time.
Lita Mandaue, a resident of the area, alleged that the fire originated from the second floor of the house owned Avelino Tulingin where a four-year-old boy and three-year-old girl were seen playing with matches.
Mandaue further alleged that when she went out of her house located just beside Tulingin’s house, she already saw the fire. Her house destroyed in the blaze that followed.
Tulingin, Mandaue said, was in Medellin town yesterday.
Aside from the houses destroyed, two others were also damaged. Overall damage was set at P.6 million.
There were around 20 fire trucks at the scene, all from the Cebu City and Mandaue City fire departments.
Cebu City fire marshal Esmael Codilla said that although the first batch of firefighters were able to respond to the scene within five minutes, they had a hard time reaching the area because it was in the interior portion and the pathways were narrow.
Codilla said that they had to join eight hoses together to reach the area of the fire.
Barangay Mabolo captain Reynaldo Ompoc also responded to the alarm, anticipating that houses in sitio San Isidro of the said barangay were also in danger as the fire happened to be near the boundary of Cebu City and Mandaue City.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes who joined Subangdaku barangay captain Walter Dy in the area immediately instructed personnel from the City Social Welfare and Services to set up a tent in an adjoining vacant lot to serve as a temporary shelter for the fire victims.
He also ordered for immediate food assistance.
“I can see how precarious the situation of the residents. I will prioritize them for relocation that we are setting up,” he said.
The mayor was referring to a 6.5-hectare lot in barangay Paknaan, now the subject of negotiation under the city’s Community Mortgage Program, a soft housing loan program of the government.
Many of the houses were either rented by or belonged workers of nearby SM City. – AJ de la Torre and Niña G. Sumacot with Mandaue News Service/BRP (THE FREEMAN)