Fire hits Tejero and Carreta 150 families lose homes

CEBU, Philippines -  One hundred fifty families lost their homes in a midday blaze yesterday affecting three sitios in barangays Carreta and Tejero, Cebu City.

Fire investigators estimate the damage to be around P2.6 million. There was one injury reported, but it was not serious.

The fire was tapped at 11:45 a.m. and lasted for over an hour. Fire teams from as far from all over Metro Cebu as well as volunteer firefighters responded to the alarm.

Affected areas were sitios Tera Cora, Sambag and Laurente in Barangay Tejero and Sitio Ponce 2 in Barangay Carreta. Most of the burned houses were made of light materials.

Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar told The FREEMAN that fire started at the kitchen of the boarding house owned by Violeta Ligan of Sitio Ponce 2, Barangay Carreta.

The Ligans, however, deny that the fire started in their house.

Firefighters had trouble containing the blaze due to strong winds, which allowed it to spread to the adjoining sitios.

Compounding the problem was the lack of access road that would allow the fire teams to go inside the thickly-populated area.

“Narrow road gyud, di maka sulod ang atong mga fire trucks tungod sa ka layo sa nasunogan, lisod kaayo maka abot among mga fire hose,” said SFO3 Jimmy Layao of the Cebu City Fire Department.

Carreta Barangay Captain, Eduardo Lauron told The FREEMAN that Sitio Ponce is a very packed area where streets are very narrow.

Several policemen were also deployed in the area to serve as crowd control and maintain order in the area while families temporarily camped along the sidewalks.

“Naglisod gyud pagsulod ang atong mga bombero tungod sa ka piot sa mga daan sa Sitio Ponce mao nga dali ra kaayo nakakalat ang kayo,” Lauron said. 

Affected families in Barangay Carreta and Tejero will be temporarily housed in their respective barangay sports centers. The councils of both barangays have also met to declare their areas under state of calamity.

Even the walled Carreta Elementary School did not escape the huge fire.

Some classrooms in the second and third floor were damaged when their windows caught the flames.

“Karon ra gyud ni nga tuiga napintalan mao nga ako gyud gi-pangayo ni Lord nga di i-tugot nga maapil ang eskwelahan,” prayed Carreta School Principal, Helen Estoconing.

She was holding an image Santo Niño while she prayed for the intercession of the Holy Child Jesus.   

City’s Move

Cebu City Mayor Rama told reporters yesterday that the first problem he noticed in the affected area was congestion.

That is why the mayor suggested that there will be re-blocking of houses in the affected sitios to prevent similar problems in the future.

“Ato ning tabangan, No matter what, they have to understand (re-blocking). We are only restoring what is out to be. Because many years back, nindot na pagka-porma,” said the mayor.

“Naay mihangyo namo nga ang housing materials mahatag dayon, but we can not do that because we still have to evaluate the area kay murag mag reblock gyud ta,” said Cebu City Risk Reduction and Management Council director Alvin Santillana.  

“Our first observation, ang kalsada sa may Carreta elementary school di gyud masudlan og bombero, tungod ubang mga residente nga mibutang sa ilang balay sa kalsada gyud mao nga di na hapit ma-agian,” he said.

Meanwhile, Arjie Cuevas, 17, was injured after a concrete wall from a burned house fell on him. He sustained only minor injuries.

Saved by the bell

The ringing of the school bell saved them.

Classes were interrupted at the Carreta Elementary School when the bells sounded signaling there was a fire.

The estimated 1,400 pupils, who had a fire drill only two months ago, used what they learned in a real life situation.

It was Carreta Elementary School Property Custodian and Security Officer Alfredo Jumao-as, who immediately alerted all students when they saw the smoke coming from the houses beside their building.

The school had to evacuate all their students 15 minutes before their supposed lunch break and suspended the afternoon classes.

Jumao-as said that their fire drill definitely helped as the pupils piled out orderly and did not panic.

The school building is four stories high and has 36 classrooms excluding the offices, laboratories, library and the canteen.

A grade six student, Sunshine Ligan, nearly fell in the stairs when she saw from her room at the fourth floor that the fire was coming from near their house.

She tried to go home to alert her ill father, but she could no longer enter the little alley going to their house.

She was crying on a classmate’s shoulder while witnessing the incident, anxious about what could have happened to her father, who usually takes a nap during the time of the incident.

She and her father were the only ones living in their house because her parents are already separated. — with Jessica Ann R. Pareja/NLQ  (FREEMAN)