Fire burns house, damages chapel

CEBU, Philippines - A chapel was damaged while a house was burned by a fire in Sitio Ulbohan, Barangay Bonbon, Aloguinsan town, yesterday dawn.

Investigation conducted by the Aloguinsan Fire Station showed that nobody was inside the house when the fire broke out when it was reported around 3:50 a.m.

The house was made of light materials and the flames immediately spread to the Pentecostal chapel located beside it.

A certain Bryan Mosquida called up the police station and informed them about the fire.

Personnel of the fire station responded to the area and controlled the fire from spreading to other structures. The fire was put out in a few minutes, police said.

A certain Elisa Casquijo reportedly owns the house, but is already living in Mindanao. Her grandchildren, who aged 16 and 17, are the only ones currently living in the house.

Police said that the minors cooked for their supper the previous night in the dirty kitchen.

It was believed that some embers might have fallen unnoticed under the kitchen where firewood was stored. This might have triggered the fire, police said.

That time the teenagers were sleeping in the house of a neighbor.

The fire spread to the nearby chapel which was not totally burned because its wall was made of cement. The chapel’s roof, however, was badly damaged.

Firefighters pegged the damage at P45,000. (FREEMAN)