An electrical shop and two adjacent houses were destroyed by a fire at past 9 a.m. yesterday in sitio Kimba, barangay Cansojong, Talisay City.
No one was reported injured or killed, as the owners of the lost properties were out at the time. The Talisay City Fire Department investigators estimated the damage to property at about P800,000.
Chief investigator, SFO1 Eulogio Abellar, said the electronics shop was owned by Lucris Codilla, who also owned one of the adjacent houses made of light materials that burned down. The other house was owned by a certain Danilo Daan.
Abellar said Codilla’s car, a Mitsubishi Sedan, was also burned.
Initial investigations showed that the fire started from the room of Maricel Mica, the 23-year-old helper of Codilla. The helper reportedly went out to buy charcoal and iced water from a store but she left behind a lighted candle on a wooden table in her room.
Nela Tubaing, a clerk of the office of the Talisay City Fire Marshal, said that the family of Codilla was in church to attend Mass at the time, and that the Daan family was also out.
A City Hall employee, Marissa Bering, was the one who alerted the fire department of the incident. Firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene and contained the fire about three minutes after they arrived.
Fire investigators said that among the items in the shop were an oxygen tank, a liquefied petroleum gas tank, and an acetylene tank used for welding. — Niña Chrismae G. Sumacot with Brenda D. Batuto / RAE