All Saints’ fire razes 20 homes in San Nicolas

CEBU, Philippines — Twenty houses were reduced to ashes in a fire believed to have started from an unattended candle in Sitio Lusimba, Barangay Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City amid the observance of All Saints’ Day on Friday evening.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) received the alarm at around 7:43 p.m. that night. It was placed to second alarm at 8:10 and declared under control at 8:33.

Firefighters said the origin of the fire was traced to the house of Boboy and Ann del Valles, wherein a lighted candle had been reportedly left and then caused the fire.

Follow-up investigation is still ongoing to determine whether the couple was liable.

The BFP pegged the damage at P60,000 after at least 20 houses and shanties in the sitio were razed by the blaze.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Hermes Molina, fire investigator, told The FREEMAN that they will summon the del Valles couple and other witnesses to shed more light into the incident.

“Aron atong mahibaw-an kung duna ba gyuy kalapasan ang magtiayon (So we can determine if the spouses can be held liable),” Molina said.

Molina shared that firefighters struggled to penetrate through the interior portion of the area because of the narrow roads.

“Namroblema gyud atong mga tawo kay hagip-ot kaayo ang mga agi-anan padung sa sulod. Unya daghan sad kaayong mga tawo nag-ali sa dan samtang nisalbar sa ilang mga gamit maong naglisod gyud mig sulod (We had a hard time because of the narrow roads. There were also residents staying in the streets, trying to save their things from the fire. So we really struggled to get in),” he said.

Molina said no one was reported killed or hurt during the fire, although two persons were attended to after experiencing breathing difficulty.  JMD (FREEMAN)