Fire razes two houses; Dane first to fight it out

DAUIS, Bohol, Philippines  – A Danish man was the first to respond to a fire that totally burned down two houses of this old town, which has neither a fire station nor a firetruck, according to witnesses.

No one was injured in the fire except for the Kasper Christianssen himself who sustained minor wounds as a result. He was immediately treated afterwards.

Christianssen, a 4-year resident of this town, told The Freeman that he responded to the blaze because no firetrucks have arrived at the scene, only a few meters from the municipal hall.

He said he used his own generator and long plastic hose, the end of which he dipped into the seawater, flowing nearby from the Tagbilaran-Dauis channel, few meters from the scene, and drew water to put off the blaze.

Later on, a firetruck from Tagbilaran City, about three kilometers from here, came into the picture and another from nearby town of Panglao.

Christianssen said the presence of bystanders who grew in number, while he and others tried to prevent the fire from going further to other houses nearby, made the effort more difficult.

The source, cause and damage of the blaze is still unknown, said the fire department, which officer admitted that the town has no fire station and a firetruck.

A house with a 24-hour store owned by Christopher Penales and his neighbor of Doroteo Cemeni went up in smoke when the fire struck at about 12:30 noon, said a resident, adding that he was informed that the blaze came from a rice cooker of one of the burnt houses.

If not of the concrete firewall, a nearby house could have been the third to be eaten up by the fire that was fanned by the wind and the blistering heat of the sun.

As the fire subsided, thick white smoke hovered over the town hall building and the century-old church nearby even as the highway, the main hub to tourist Panglao town, was closed for more than an hour.

Two fires have hit this town in less than a week. Last Tuesday, a bushfire gutted down a nipa hut but sparing the apartment and the residential house of a certain Ritchell Sabanal Storm, a resident of barangay Catarman.