CEBU, Philippines - Almost two thousand people lost their homes as 248 houses went up in smoke when a fire hit a congested portion in Barangay Luz yesterday afternoon.
It was supposed to be a day of fun for the residents as at noontime, stars of a variety show were in a nearby area for the live telecast of the popular program.
The fire razed houses in Sitios Santa Cruz, Santo Niño, Lubi, Abellana and Central, where most of them were made of light materials and built close to each other.
The fire was reported at 3:13 p.m. and was declared under control within 25 minutes.
The fire department has yet to release the official damage estimate as of presstime last night.
Barangay officials said as of last night 1,827 individuals comprising 457 families were left homeless.
Another five houses were damaged.
Cebu Fire Marshal Aderson Comar told The FREEMAN the fire originated from the house of Ramon and Carmen Villegas of Sitio Lubi. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Residents of the area, however, alleged that the couple were cooking, but left their house to watch the noontime show at the neighboring Sitio Kalinaw.
Lack of access
Fire fighters scrambled around the fire scene, but had a hard time getting to the area due to the narrow passageways.
The winds also made it more difficult for the firefighters to combat the blaze.
Several residents also helped out by passing buckets and other containers they could use to put off the fire, but to no avail.
State of calamity
Barangay Luz Captain Rian Tante said they have feared for such tragedy to hit their barangay in the past years.
“We do not have flooding problems but we have long been afraid of fires,” he said.
Tante said affected residents will be housed at the Barangay Luz Elementary School.
“We will account all affected residents and provide them with the necessary support as far as we can give,” he said.
The barangay has placed the five affected sitios under state of calamity last night for them to tap their calamity fund.
Due for demolition
Around 16 houses at Sitio Lubi, which were due for demolition on May 15, were among those ravaged by the blaze.
The owners of the 16 houses are not members of the barangay Home Owners Association.
The barangay captain also lost their ancestral home in Sitio Lubi in the blaze.
Problems
Tante also noticed the lack of communication among fire fighters, which he believed could have contributed to the slow dousing of the fire.
Comar recommended for the re-blocking of the area and installation of additional water hydrants every 200 meters.
“It is up to the barangay for them to make use of their IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) to re-block and install additional water hydrants in the area,” he said.
Fire fighting operations continued late last night as several house continued to burn.
-/NLQ (FREEMAN)