Fire hits rooms in SanRem school, house in Moalboal

CEBU, Philippines – Some students of Luyang Elementary School in the northern town of San Remigio will be attending classes in tents after a fire razed three of their classrooms last Friday morning.

Initial investigation revealed an electrical short circuit caused the fire.

No one was injured in the incident but damage is estimated at P2 million.

Stephen Arminion, councilman of Barangay Luyang who lives just behind the school, told authorities he saw smoke coming out of the home economics room at around 9:30 a.m.

He immediately called the San Remigio Fire Station for assistance.

Other residents who also saw the smoke said they heard glass shattering from inside the room and an explosion much later.

The fire then spread to two other rooms, leaving nothing but the concrete walls.

Meanwhile, in the opposite side of the island, a house in Moalboal town was razed by fire, which was believed to have started by a four-year-old child playing with matches.

The fire erupted at 2 p.m. and ate up the house owned by Terisita Rabor even before firefighters could arrive.

The boy’s grandmother, Victoriana, told authorities the child was playing with matchsticks when he accidentally lit one, prompting him to throw the same to a pile of wood on the ground floor.

The boy’s 13-year-old brother who was sleeping at that time was awakened by the heat and pulled his younger brother out of the house.  —  /JMO (FREEMAN)