Fire destroys twenty houses in Kamagayan

CEBU, Philippines - A three-year-old boy was injured after a fire hit the interior portion of Sitio San Antonio De Padua in Barangay Kamagayan yesterday afternoon, destroying 20 houses.

The Cebu City Fire Department received the fire alarm at 5:14 p.m. and considered the fire under control by 5:38 p.m.

The fire also reached the two-story Kamagayan Barangay Hall but the structure's firewall prevented any damage.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Lowel Opolentisima, who investigated the incident, said the fire started at the second floor of the two-story house owned by a certain Zenaida "Bebet" Nuñez. Investigators have yet to determine what caused the fire.

In under 20 minutes the fire quickly to spread to the nearby houses which were mostly made of light materials, he said.

Cebu City Fire Marshall Conrad Dublois raised the fire alarm to Task Force Alpha.

"Gi-tap nato ang help sa fire stations of the neighboring cities kay congested man gud ang area," said Dublois.

Fire volunteers also helped control the fire. Firemen had to connect hoses to get to the area with burning houses.

Dublois also said three-year-old Shaun Dolino suffered first-degree burns while running away from the fire scene. The boy was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Total damage was estimated at P150,000, said Dublois.

Meanwhile, in Danao City, a store and three boarding houses were gutted by a fire that broke along Rizal St., Barangay Poblacion, past noon yesterday.

The fire reportedly started at the Tinuhog Lechon Manok and Liempo store owned by Dennis Pacaldo before it engulfed to the boarding houses which were all made of light materials.

These were occupied by Imelda Medalla, Bicbic Polangcos and Eva Silverio.

Unattended grilling of chicken at the store reportedly caused the fire after Pacaldo left his store to buy some lemongrass at a store a few meters away.

Fire investigators suspect that embers from the grill came into contact with nearby combustible materials. However, investigators have yet to deepen their investigation.

"Initial lang una na kay wala pa gyud namo matan-aw og klaro mag-imbestigar pa mi," said SFO2 Socrates Cane, investigator of the Danao City Fire Station.

No one was left behind when Pacaldo went out  to buy the spices and when he came back people were already shouting for help.

"Wala pa gyud mapawong dayon kay lock man ang tindahan dali ra nakadako ang kayo," Cane said in a phone interview.

Firefighters controlled the fire 10 minutes after arriving at the scene while fire out was declared past 1 p.m.

Damaged was pegged at P800,000 with no injuries or casualties reported. —/BRP (FREEMAN)