A man, 65, charred with his house

CEBU, Philippines - A 65-year-old elderly man was found charred inside his house after the fire broke out Thursday evening in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City.

Joe Anabe, who had a fracture in his leg and had difficulty in walking, was found beneath the debris of his house after the fire was put off around 6:33 in the evening.

Joe was said to have fallen off the coconut tree last Friday which caused his fractured leg.

Fire investigator suspected that unattended cooking at the dirty kitchen of the victim could have caused the fire as the house was made of light materials.

FO3 Edwin Quintanilla said that the victim’s wife, Adelaida, 69, left for Cebu City in the morning because of an important matter.

A neighbor alleged that Joe was seen cooking dinner at the dirty kitchen at 6:00 in the evening before the fire alarm broke out 20 minutes later.

Quintanilla said that Joe possibly forgot the cooking or the fire could be from embers that ignited the firewood in the house.

“Possible nitapon ang agipo sa balay o ba kaha nikusog ang kayo unya nalimtan sa tiguwang,” Quintanilla said in a phone interview.

Neighbors tried to put off the fire but failed as it was fanned by the wind.

“Ingon pud sa asawa nga limtanun na gyud kuno ni iyang bana,” he said.

Firemen recovered the body on his charred bed near the window as if Joe was trying to escape from the house.

The fire was only raised to first alarm as responded by the fire stations of Minglanilla, San Fernando and of the APO Cement.

Firemen pegged the damage at more or less P100,000. —/GMR (FREEMAN)