Fire razes 150 houses

CEBU, Philippines - At least 150 houses were destroyed in a fire that hit Barangay Quiot, Cebu City yesterday evening.

Several residents were reported to have been injured in the fire that swept through Sitio San Isidro Labrador, said Senior Fire Officer 2 Lowell Opolentisima.

Opolentisima said the Cebu City Fire Department received the alarm at 6:15 p.m.

Responding firefighters from all fire stations in the city, and from the neighboring cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, helped put out the fire.

But aside from the problem on congestion and narrow roads, Opolentisima said they struggled in extinguishing the fire since the water hydrant nearby was not functioning. He said they also ran out of water.

“Naglisod ta og sulod kay gamay ang dalan, ug nahutdan pa g’yud og tubig,” said Opolentisima.

The fire quickly spread to other houses which were mostly made of light materials. It was declared under control around 7:34 p.m.

Opolentisima said the fire originated at the house of a certain Valeria Ogahayon based on the account of witnesses. Ogahayon’s house reportedly had no electricity.

It was not also immediately known whether Ogahayon was around when her house caught fire.

Barangay councilor Paulina Paras said the fire has not yet spread to other houses when she arrived at the area.

She then immediately called out residents watching basketball nearby to help douse the flames, but they instead rushed to their houses to save their belongings.

Levi Turing, 40, said he had to rush home from Mandaue City where he works as a barber after learning about the fire, since his two children aged 6 and 12, were the only ones left there. His wife Loelyn was also in Lapu-Lapu City working.

When he arrived, his house which was just adjacent to Ogahayon’s, was already razed. His children were safe.

The fire ate up around P1 million in properties, Opolentisima said.

The affected families are now temporarily sheltered at a basketball court in Sitio Greenbelt and were given immediate assistance such as food and sleeping materials. As of last night, the city is still accounting the total number of families and individuals displaced by the fire. — (FREEMAN)