2 hurt, 15 houses razed in fire

CEBU, Philippines - Two persons were injured and at least 15 houses went up in smoke after a fire hit a thickly-populated area in Barangay Carreta yesterday afternoon.

Fire investigator Emiliano Daño identified the victims as Cresente Durano, 67, who suffered second degree burns, and one John Ray Paul, 14, who sustained a  cut in his right foot.

The 27 displaced families are temporarily housed in the barangay sports complex.  They will be given packed meals for three days by the Cebu City Disaster Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Daño said they had a hard time penetrating the fire scene in Sitio Bagumbahay because of the narrow roads.

Daño said the fire was raised to Task Force Alpha considering the situation in the area.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) tapped the alarm at 2:18 p. m. and put the fire under control after 30 minutes. 

Damage is pegged at P250,000.

Responding fire trucks were parked outside the nearby sports complex and firefighters had to connect hoses to put out the fire.

Daño said they are still investigating what triggered the fire, although they received reports from residents that it started from the house of Michael Durano.

Durano believed that electrical system failure caused the blaze.

“It must be electrical system failure because our wires already had scratches,” said Durano in an interview.

The 39-year-old traffic enforcer said it was his day off yesterday and he was in bed when he heard a cat screamed followed by loud explosion from the upper floor of his house.

When he checked, he saw the ceiling of his mother’s bedroom already on fire. His mother was not around.

Durano tried to remove the foam in the room to contain the fire but it quickly spread.  He hurriedly got out of his house and secured his four children.

Durano’s uncle, Cresente, who was one of the injured, was sleeping at the ground floor when he heard the explosion.

He ran outside and helped residents put out the fire  until a burning wood fell on his back.

Half of his back and some parts of his arms and left foot sustained burns.

He was treated by paramedics who responded to the blaze.

Carreta Barangay Captain Eduardo Lauron said they hoped to have the area reblocked but the National Housing Authority (NHA), which owns the lot, also has another plan.

Mayor Michael Rama, who also responded to the scene yesterday, said he may push for the reblocking of the area just like what was done in Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita, which was also hit by fire recently. — (FREEMAN)