CEBU, Philippines - Three people were killed and three others were injured in the fire that hit a residential area in Sitio Lusimba, Barangay Pardo, Cebu City yesterday morning.
The fire destroyed 28 houses and damaged three others, leaving at least 44 families or 128 people homeless, said Pardo councilman Lolot Tulda. City fire marshal Aderson Comar pegged the damaged at P300,000.
It was the 10th fire reported by the Bureau of Fire Protection in this Fire Prevention Month.
Fire investigators identified the fatalities as Esperanza Aberion, 75; Rosalie Tagacanao, 35; and Rafael Dolalia, 5. The charred bodies of the victims were found by firefighters under the debris. They were identified through the help of their relatives.
Those injured were Justo Tagacanao, 65; and siblings Raymond Wayne and Ralph Lawrence Dolalla. They were rushed to Cebu City Medical Center and Miller Memorial Sanitarium and Hospital for treatment of their burn injuries.
Homicide investigator Ruth Violango of the Cebu City Police Office said that Aberion was already out of her burning house but reportedly went back inside to save her nephew. However, she was no longer able to come out alive.
Homicide and fire investigators believed that the fatalities were trapped and suffocated by the thick smoke.
Comar said they received the alarm at 9:58 a.m. and the fire was declared under control after eight minutes. Initial investigation reveals that it started on the ground floor of the house owned by Jeffrey Tagacanao. The cause is still under investigation.
Fire victims blamed the Pardo fire sub-station, which is located few meters away from the fire scene, for its failure to immediately respond. It was the Quiot fire sub-station that responded first to the alarm.
Comar admitted that the Pardo sub-station was unable to respond immediately because all its personnel were in the regional headquarters at the Pahina Central for an evaluation meeting and critiquing of their previous firefighting operations especially the one in Barangay Suba last Friday.
Comar said they were also having a difficulty in penetrating the area because of the narrow access roads. He added that the place is also elevated making it doubly difficult for their fire trucks to maneuver.
In fact, one of the responding fire trucks from Barangay Guadalupe rammed a concrete wall after it reportedly lost its brakes.
The incident once again gave Mayor Michael Rama the opportunity to blame the City Council for deleting his P60 million budget for the purchase of new fire trucks and equipment in the 2012 annual budget of the city.
Barangay Captain Fermin Dasmariñas said some of the fire victims were provided tents as temporary shelter while the others are placed at the barangay sports complex.
South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña visited yesterday the fire victims in Pardo and promised financial assistance to them.
Osmeña said he will give P10,000 assistance from his Priority Development Assistance Fund to each family affected by the fire. He will also shoulder the hospital and medicine bills of those injured in the fire.
Meanwhile, the City Council has approved the recommendation to donate 50 units of fire extinguishers to Barangay Ermita.
Councilor Jose Daluz III said that Ermita is one of the densely populated barangays in the city that need fire fighting equipment. Ermita barangay captain Antonieto Flores asked for fire extinguishers for them to use in case of fire emergency.
One of the sitios in the barangay called Ermita Beach is one of the sitios that could not be easily penetrated in case of fire because of its narrow road. In fact, a responding fire truck was burned after it was trapped when the area was hit by fire more than a decade ago.
The council has already authorized Rama to sign a deed of donation of the fire fighting equipment to the barangay. — With Rene U. Borromeo/FPL - (THE FREEMAN)