SAN DIONISIO, ILOILO, Philippines — A 98-year-old woman and her 75-year-old daughter died in a fire that gutted their house at Hacienda Conchita of this town Friday morning, police said over the weekend.
Chief Insp. Danilo de los Santos, San Dionisio Police chief, said the victims, Lilia Villanes, a widow, and her daughter, Santiaga, were trapped inside their burning house.
The two elderly women were the only residents of the house located in the middle of a sugarcane plantation. “Their nearest neighbor lives far from them. So, they were not readily rescued,†said de los Santos.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has yet to release the result of its investigation, but initial probe pointed to embers of charcoal that were left undoused after Santiaga cooked their meal.
The charcoal embers ignited the wood, which was just kept under their improvised kitchen. The fire then quickly grew and gutted the victims’ house, which was mostly made of light materials. (FREEMAN)