20 houses lost in noontime fire

A noontime fire struck a residential area in sitio Englis, barangay Guadalupe. Five residents were reported hurt and 20 houses gutted in 18 minutes.

Fire investigator Frank Donoso said that the fire started in the house owned by a certain Winnie Tapales, a barbeque vendor at Larsian in Fuente Osmeña.

Tapales and her two sons Rogelio, 30, and Ronel, 14, were among those injured after they attempted to save some of their important belongings. All of them suffered minor burns on their arms and feet.

Another resident identified as Shanniz Uy, 23, also suffered third-degree burns on her left shoulder and right forearm after she helped her relative Presley Uy, 27, in saving the latter's belongings.

Presley also suffered a minor burn in his left foot.

All of the injured were taken to the Cebu City Medical Center and were declared out of danger.

Donoso said Tapales reported she was sleeping at the second floor of their house when her two sons woke her up and told her that their house was on fire, prompting her to scamper for safety along with her sons. But the three decided to return to save important things.

She suspects that the fire was caused by faulty electrical wirings, but Donoso said that a thorough investigation will be conducted on the incident.

Most of the houses were made of light materials while some were made of concrete.

Firefighters needed to go to Natalio Bacalso avenue to get water from a fire hydrant, since it is the nearest source of water. Some firetrucks went as far as Colon Street to draw water. - Edwin Ian Melecio of Banat News