Relief work for victims in Mambaling fire start

The city government and some private groups have already started relief works for families that lost their homes in a fire at sitios Lawis and Alaska in barangay Mambaling the other night.

Within the next three days, the city government said it will provide food for the estimated 2000 families from an estimated 500 houses that were razed in the fire.

These families are now housed temporarily at the Mambaling Sports Complex and the Alaska Elementary School where a tank of potable water and a portable toilet were installed.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, chair of the committee on social services, said the city would provide material and construction assistance but no financial assistance to the affected families.

Material assistance includes provision of household necessities such as sleeping garments and kitchen utensils, said Carillo, adding that the city would also help the families rebuild their houses.

The food provision started yesterday morning and will continue until tomorrow while the material and construction assistance would be distributed starting today.

Carillo said he wanted to have the place declared as a calamity area to enable the city government to disburse more funds.

Relief efforts appeared smooth so far but Mambaling barangay captain Rodolfo Estella told The Freeman that there were reports that at least three classrooms of the school where the fire victims are staying have reportedly lost some equipment.

There were no casualties in the fire that hit the coastal sitios at past 8pm Tuesday but was finally put out at 1:34am Wednesday. Firefighters estimated the damage at P1.8-million.

The city's fire department said the razed houses were mostly made up of light materials. Estella added that narrow roads leading to the scene and the presence of onlookers were among the factors that made firefighting efforts difficult.

At the height of the conflagration, a member of the Mobile Patrol Group who was among the fire victims, accidentally shot a 14-year-old boy on the buttock when they bumped each other off while hauling their belongings away from the raging fire.

The policeman, SPO3 Noel Evangelista, said he was frantically carrying his belongings when he rammed into the boy and the next thing he heard was gunfire. When the boy fell, Evangelista realized his gun went off and hit the boy accidentally.

Evangelista quickly rushed the boy to the Cebu City Medical Center and doctors later declared the boy was out of harm and was advised to go home.

Another incident was when a resident punched a firefighter, SFO1 Willie Ochea, for allegedly refusing the fire hose to the man.

Chief fire investigator SFO3 Allen Arciaga said the man wanted Ochea to aim the hose to his burning house but Ochea refused and this could have angered the man.

"Kani laging ilog-ilog sa hose nga ilang balay ang gusto nilang unahon nato, di man na mao ang fire operation," Arciaga said.

Firefighters said they had difficulty in maneuvering their fire trucks since the road was too narrow and filled with people and some household items taken from the affected houses.

Arciaga said investigation on the cause of the fire has looked into three angles, one of which was about a group of drug addicts had threw kerosene lamps to the house of a certain Macario Braun.

A second angle was that a lighted candle might have been left burning and a third one was a possible electrical short circuit might have set the blaze. - Joebert Ocao and Edwin Ian Melecio