Woman killed in Bulacao fire

CEBU, Philippines —  A 28-year-old woman with Down syndrome died while another one was injured from a fire that erupted at a residential area in Sitio Laguna, Barangay Bulacao, Cebu City yesterday.

It was the second fire responded to by the Cebu City Fire Office yesterday and the fourth this Fire Prevention Month.

SFO1 Novo Erana, fire investigator, identified the fatality in yesterday’s fire in Bulacao as Maris Bayaton. Maris’ mother, Ernita Bayaton, 58, was also attended by the medics for shortness of breath, while a certain Noshua Anthony Tembravilla, 23, sustained third-degree burns in his right arm.

Firefighters received the alarm at 3:04 p.m. It was declared under control at 3:22 p.m. and announced fire out at 3:29 p.m.

Three houses of five families or 16 individuals were totally burned for an estimated damage of P200,000 based on initial reports.

Erana said that one of the three razed houses, the one owned by the Bayatons, was a two-story home made of mixed light materials and concrete. It was where the fire was believed to have started.

Erana said the Bayatons did not have electricity connection at home.

The investigator is theorizing that the fire may have been caused by a butane explosion based on the accounts of Ernita’s other daughter, who said they heard a loud explosion twice before seeing the smokes and flames.

“Naay posibilidad nga butane kay wa may lain gyud, wa may laing mobuto kay ilang gamit man kuno kay butane kay wa man sad silay electricity. Pero ato pa ning tan-awon sa imbestigasyon (There’s a possibility that it was due to butane explosion because the family said they were using butane and that they did not have power connection at home. But this is still subject to further investigation),” said Erana.

“Mao to naratol sila, nanagan, unya wa na natabang. Nabilin ning igsuon nilang usa, kining si Maris Bayaton, naay Down syndrome, and nakalas gyud siya (They went out of the house panicking. The fire had spread and Maris was left behind and died),” Erana added.

Maris was staying on the second floor of the house and was trapped by the flames.

Erana said the house of Bayatons completely collapsed.

She further said that fire responders were having a hard time penetrating into the scene because of the narrow road that could only accommodate small firetrucks.

Meanwhile, less than an hour after the Bulacao fire, firefighters responded to another fire alarm in Maria Luisa Village in Barangay Busay wherein a garage reportedly caught fire but the fire department had yet to assess the extent of the damage as of this writing. — Romeo D. Marantal, JMD (FREEMAN)