Guadalupe fire razes 50 houses

CEBU, Philippines - Around 50 houses were destroyed by a fire yesterday morning in sitios Riverside and Kana-as in Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.

Damage was pegged at P800,000.

Fire Officer 3 Antonio Gonzales said that witnesses reported that the fire started at the second floor of the house owned by couple Alfredo and Josefina Navarro.

Josefina told the fire investigator that she and her family were all at the ground floor of the house at around 11 a.m. when a neighbor came rushing to them to tell that the upper floor of their house was on fire.

Until last night, the couple could not tell Gonzales what triggered the blaze, but contrary to their claims, fire investigators believe that one of the couple’s kids could have caused the fire by playing with matches.

The family, however, insisted that all of them were at the ground floor of the house when the fire started.

Another cause the fire investigator is mulling is an overheated fluorescent lamp.

While firemen did not encounter the usual problem of narrow roads, they had to deal with panicked crowds rushing to save their belongings.

No one hurt in the incident which was raised to the second alarm.

Meanwhile, Raquel Español, desk officer of the Guadalupe Barangay Hall, told The FREEMAN that they are attending to the needs of the 49 affected families.

She said the families are receiving basic needs like food and tents that will serve as their shelter for the meantime.

Español added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development was also there to help.

Some of the affected families decided to pitch their tents in the fire scene while others decided to stay in a nearby basketball. They were also provided emergency lights. — /BRP (THE FREEMAN)