Fire destroys four houses

CEBU, Philippines - Electrical misuse was the initial theory for the fire that razed four structures along Mabini St., barangay San Roque, Cebu City at midmorning yesterday.

An ancestral house owned by the Benlot family was lost to the blaze, while a boarding house owned by Annabelle Macaantal and two houses owned by Honoracio Parawan and Jovy Manheron were partially damaged.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Nilo Daculan revealed that the fire originated in the second storey of the ancestral house, specifically in the room of Milagros Benlot.

Marcelina Obenita, sister-in-law of Milagros who was the only one left in the house, noticed thick smoke coming from the room.

She went upstairs to check and saw the wall near the electric socket was already burning.

Daculan said the houses affected were made of light materials.

The fire department received the alarm at 10:24. Firefighters were able to control the fire in ten minutes, preventing it from spreading to more structures. The blaze, however, was totally put out an hour later, or at 11:24 a.m.

It was raised to second alarm and the damage was estimated at P75,000.

An ambulance and nine fire trucks from the different sub-stations in Cebu City responded to the alarm including the Filipino-Chinese fire volunteer brigade and the Barangay Sto. Niño fire brigade.

Daculan said this is the seventh fire in the city since the opening of the Fire Prevention Month.

He disclosed that so far, this means a 50-percent increase in number of fires compared to the same period last year.

“Mas daghan ron, wala na namo apila ang fire nga gagmay ra kaayo nga igo pag-abot namo napawong na,” Daculan said. (FREEMAN)