84 families lose homes in blaze

Twenty minutes was all it took for the lives of over 400 people from 84 families to take a sudden turn for the worse when fire struck a portion of sitio Mahayahay Dos, barangay Pasil early yesterday.

The early morning blaze hit a residential area and all that were left of 70 houses made of light material were ashes and burnt wood.

Also partially burned was the right wing of the audio-visual room of a church funded school located at the area.

Fire investigator SFO2 Alicasim Espinola of the Cebu City Fire Department said that the fire started around 5:24 in the morning from a house owned by a certain Gaudencio Quirante Sr., 59, a fish vendor.

Fire fighters had a hard time reaching the area because of the narrow road.

What worsened the situation were residents who stashed what they could save of their belongings on the road blocking the path of fire fighters.

City Fire Marshal Ismael Codilla declared a general alarm to bring all available firefighting units to the area and prevent the fire from spreading to nearby shanties.

No one was reported hurt in the incident.

Some residents reportedly told a radio station that the cause of the blaze could be fuel that was stored inside the house of Quirante.

The residents alleged that Quirante sold fuel to fishing boats that are used around Caubian Island and Olango Island.

Espinola said that he will check the said information. He however said that Quirante admitted that the fire started from the third floor of his house, which was rented by his nephew.

They could not however determine yet what was the cause since he was busy saving what he could of his possessions.

The victims are temporarily housed at the sports complex of barangay Pasil and the Don Bosco gymnasium. The city government had sent its social welfare service workers to attend on the needs of the victims.

Cebu City Council Social Services Committee chairman Gerardo Carillo, in a telephone interview, told The Freeman that they will give housing materials for each family and other immediate needs.

The housing material will include, lumber, roofing materials, and plywood, Carillo said.

Yesterday, city government distributed blankets, food, rice, potable water, kitchen utensils and tents for temporary shelter. Each family will receive P10, 000 worth of relief goods from the city in this operation Carillo added.

Fire investigators estimate the damage to be around P100,000.

The DSWS report, however, Carillo said, reports a damage of close to P6 million based on the interviews with the victims as they itemized the appliances they lost.