16 dead, 59 houses destroyed in Bacolod blaze

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  - Sixteen people, eight of them children, were killed in a two-hour fire that razed the slum areas of Purok Mabinuligon and Purok Mainuwaon in Barangay 19 at dawn yesterday, reports from the city police office showed.

Bacolod police chief Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara yesterday said the fire broke out at 1:19 a.m, gutting down first an old wooden two-story boarding house owned by Morita Depacaquibo.

Guara said the fire might have been caused by a candle lit by one of the residents in the comfort room of the building to honor the dead on All Souls’ Day.

Because of strong winds, the fire rapidly spread, leveling 59 houses and damaging three others within a half-hectare distance (5,000 square meters.). It left some 1,000 people homeless.

Guara said most of the fatalities were members of the five families trapped in the second floor of the boarding house.

The bodies were charred beyond recognition but were later identified by family members, relatives, and neighbors who survived the incident.

The gutted building had housed impoverished families making a living as vendors in a nearby public market.

Fire Marshall Pamela Candido said several people leapt from windows at the height of the fire but others failed to wake up in time to save themselves.

“Some mothers perished with their children,” Candido said. “It was really tragic.”

The 16 victims were identified either by their full names, first names, or nicknames. The ages of some of the victims have not been ascertained.

These were spouses Joselito and Anavic Celis, their three children, Carl Joshua (3), Ada Pauline (6), and Analyn (8); Jeniffer, Jonaline, and Joshua, all surnamed Demandar; brothers Novie (3) and Bejie (2) both surnamed Chavez; Mora, Kring-Kring, Rosemarie, Nonoy Niño; and Eduarda (70) and Napoleon Abejero (40).

The blaze was completely contained at 4:08 a.m. by fire fighters from the Bureau of Fire Protection and volunteers of the Amity and Chamber Fire Brigades.

Guara said the fire fighters had difficulty putting out the fire because of the narrow entrance to the boarding house.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the surviving families are temporarily housed in evacuation centers provided by the local government unit and the congressional district office and have received medical attention.

Fire investigators estimated the damage at P2.5 million.

Condolences

President Arroyo condoled with the families of those who died in the fire.

Deputy spokesperson and Press Undersecretary Anthony Golez, a native of Bacolod, described the tragedy as “the worst in the city.”

“The President is extending her deepest sympathies and condolences to the families who died in the fire in Bacolod City,” Golez told a news briefing at the Palace.

He said the President has ordered the Bacolod City Disaster Coordinating Council to immediately assist the victims.

Golez flew to Bacolod City yesterday afternoon to help in the recovery efforts. – With Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AP