Fire hits 3 houses in Pinamungajan

A two-story house was reduced to ashes while two others were damaged when a fire swept through a row of residential houses in barangay Poblacion, Pinamungajan town, last Monday night.

The fire, which reportedly started at the house of a certain Milagros Clarisan, also hit two other houses owned by Potenciano Gentapa, and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Glenn Baricuatro.

Initial investigation conducted by Pinamungajan police, who received the fire alarm at 6:20 p.m., said witnesses alleged that the fire started at the back portion of Clarisan's house. But an investigation conducted by a Cebu Electric Cooperative III employee revealed that the cause of fire was an electrical overload.

The town has two fire trucks but does not have any firemen.

Toledo City Fire Marshall Randy Mendaroz told The Freeman that they received the fire alarm at 6:45 p.m. and were able to put it out 20 minutes after arriving at the scene. Firemen from Barili and Balamban towns also responded to the incident.

Mendaroz said the damage was estimated at P3.5 million, adding that they are still conducting follow-up investigation to determine the actual cause of fire. No deaths were reported but three persons suffered first-degree burns in the incident. Those injured were fireman Silvestre Tero and Samson Lao and his seven-month-old son Nathaniel.

The fire official said Samson, whose family occupied the second floor of Clarisan's house, ran upstairs to save his son's life when the fire broke out.

Mendaroz revealed that Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan towns are under their area of responsibility.

In an interview over DyDD Bantay Radyo Monday night, SPO1 Estonilo Nonilon of the Pinamungajan police said that the keys of the town's fire trucks were not available since the driver was not around during the incident.

Nonilon added that one of the fire trucks did not contain water because prior to the incident because it was used to water the plants at the municipal hall.

Mendaroz, however, refused to comment on that report.

Deputy Marshall Alex Montejo said that Pinamungajan's fire trucks are still owned by the local government since these were not turned over to the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Meanwhile, the provincial government may adopt the use of coconut wine locally known as tuba as fire extinguisher.

Cebu Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez, Jr., said tuba is one of the alternative products introduced by Norberto Luna, president of Crest Sun International Products.

Sanchez said he invited municipal mayors in the province to witness the Luna's demonstration yesterday to see for themselves how to put out fire using tuba.

According to Sanchez, he tapped Luna, the manufacturer of fire extinguisher with brand name "Alarma," to conduct further study of the new alternative.

Sanchez said that he would also asked the BFP of the province for an assessment. "Grabe na kaayo karon ang palaliton mao nga nakita nako nga angayan mangita nata og paagi bahin niini."

The vice governor said the provincial government has distributed motorcycles complete with firefighting equipment to different cities and municipalities in the province. - Norvie S. Misa and Jose P. Sollano