Electrical misuse eyed: 340 homeless in Punta fire

CEBU, Philippines - At least 29 houses were totally burned while six more were partially damaged in a fire that hit a slum area in Doña Maria Village Extension in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City late Wednesday evening.

The fire left at least 82 families or over 340 individuals homeless, according to the validated data of Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services which inspected the area yesterday.

DSWS also noted that the fire razed at least 44 structures.

Electrical misuse?

Senior Fire Officer 4 Roylim Maratas, chief investigator at the Bureau of Fire Protection-7, told The FREEMAN that they received the alarm at 11:10 p.m. and declared it under control at 11:50 p.m. and fire out after almost three hours. 

Maratas said they received information that the fire started from the two-story house of a certain Maximino Obado.

While investigation into to the cause of the fire is still underway, he said witnesses were suspecting it could have been due to electrical misuse.

Based on reports, Maratas said, Obado had already noticed a circuit breaker problem in his house prior to the fire, but only dismissed it. Fire investigators are now looking into these claims as one of the angles in their inquiry.

After neighbors pointed at Obado’s house as the source of the fire, some fire  victims  reportedly   turned  their  anger  on  Obado, to the point of battering him. He sustained bruises and injuries in the process and was brought to the hospital, said Maratas.

Maratas also shared that it was hard for them to contain the fire as there were too many people around, hence limiting their actions. Despite this, he reported that no one died or was injured from the incident.

‘Cold Christmas’

Rowena Tabal, one of the fire victims, was not able to save anything as she was not in their house when the fire broke out.

Tabal said she went out for a personal appointment and was shocked to find out later that her house was already reduced to ashes.

Unlike Tabal, however, Tereso Caburnay was still lucky to have saved some kilo of rice, food and his pillow. He was already sleeping when he heard people scream “Sunog!”

Caburnay, though, still expressed his frustration and his worries over a possibly cold Christmas this year. “Pait kaayo labi na hapit na ang Pasko.”

He also said a similar tragedy had hit their place sometime in 2002.

Assistance

Yesterday’s fire was raised to second alarm and left at least P150,000 in damages, according to the BFP.

DSWS head Dr. Ester Concha said the affected families were first housed at the barangay gymnasium but due to its limited space, they were later transferred to the nearby Mormon’s Church.

Concha said DSWS distributed packed meals to the families and provided them starter kits such as bedding materials, kitchenware, and other necessities. She added that each family may receive a P10,000 cash assistance from the city government.

Reblocking

Meanwhile, the city’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor will separately inspect the site to check on property ownership issues, among others.  DWUP head lawyer Collin Rosell said they will re-block the area considering that it is congested, which makes it prone to fire. He said houses will be reconstructed and wider roads built.

“Bisan man lang usa ka spark sa kayo diha, mag-cause gyud na siya og sunog tungod kay congested man siya kaayo. When you want to rescue, wala kay mahimo tungod kay lisod man ang pag-agi,” said Rosell.

He said whether the property is owned by a private entity or not, it is important to provide measures that can help people respond to emergencies or disasters easily.

“This will call for restoration to a more efficient and more comfortable manner. The city should come in since it is a disaster situation,” he said, adding that disasters like this should not be a reason to evict informal settlers from private properties. —/JMD (FREEMAN)