Fire hits interior portion of Lahug

CEBU, Philippines -  Five houses were totally burned while five others were partially damaged yesterday afternoon in a fire which hit Sunset Drive in Barangay Lahug, this city.

Damage to property was pegged at P120,000.

The fire started at the second floor of the house owned by Germana Pizon. This was reported to the fire department at 4:44 p.m.

Pizon rented out rooms at her 30-year-old house made mostly of wood.

Pizon told The FREEMAN she was with her neighbors at the ground floor playing a card game, when they heard shouting. When she checked, she found the second floor of her house already ablaze.

She tried to go upstairs to save some belongings, but the thick black smoke prevented her. She was left with no other recourse but flee for her safety.

Within minutes, the fire also ate up neighboring houses.

Pizon alleged that the fire started from one of the rooms that she rented out.

She said that the renter of the room was cooking dinner.

Nobody from Pizon’s house was able to save anything.

Firefighters found it difficult to reach the house of Pizon due to the lack of an access road.

Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar said that no fire truck was able to get close to the fire so they were forced to link their hoses.

Fire trucks were deployed inside the University of the Philippines Cebu Campus and the Ecotech Center which are around the fire scene.

He said that it would take people going into the area about ten to 15 minutes to reach the fire scene due to the very narrow passageways.

The fire department considers the area to be high risk since most of the houses that are built so close to each other are made of light materials.

The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire.

Barangay Lahug social worker, Emperatris Capili told The FREEMAN they will house the affected residents in a nearby basketball court where they will put up several tents.

They will also provide the affected residents with food for the next three days.

As of last night, there were about 35 individuals affected in the blaze.

Four days ago, five houses were totally burned as three others were damaged in a fire at Barangay Tejero. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)