Fire hits apartment

CEBU, Philippines - A late night fire ate up a three-door apartment in Tres De Abril St., Barangay Labangon, Cebu City a few hours after another fire hit a tire supply shop in Barangay T. Padilla last Thursday.

The fire, which was reported at 10 p.m., started at the house rented by one Raul. The two-storey apartment is owned by Libeta Todiño.

Raul said he first heard a loud explosion coming from the sala of the apartment and was followed by two more explosions, prompting Raul to immediately turn off their appliances and the main switch.

He then checked what happened, only to be welcomed by thick smoke. He rushed to tell his neighbors who started saving their properties while the flames engulfed the apartment.

Firemen responded and controlled the fire in five minutes. The fire razed the structure, which was mostly made of light materials.

The fire, which was raised to the third alarm, reportedly ate up P250,000 worth of properties.

At past 5 p.m. on the same day, a fire also hit a building and razed a tire supply and tailoring shops at M.J. Cuenco Avenue, Barangay T. Padilla. The fire ate up half million worth of properties.

It is just halfway through the celebration of March as Fire Prevention Month and Cebu City fire fighters have already responded to at least five fire incidents.

With this, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama reiterated the need to upgrade firefighting equipment in the City following the M.J. Cuenco fire which he personally responded.

He emphasized the difficulty in addressing fire alarms with outdated facilities.

“Imagine the people, including the mayor, had to wear wet handkerchief to protect themselves from thick smoke?” Rama told reporters.

About P50 million budget for the City Fire Department’s fire truck upgrade was disapproved earlier this year, thus the need for improvement which would make city firemen more efficient in responding to alarms.  (FREEMAN)