ILOILO CITY, Philippines – A 36-year-old mother, Marissa Marbais, died when she returned to her burning house thinking that one of her five children was still inside. She was wrong and got burned alive, while her child was actually safe outside.
Marbais death came during a fire that hit Zone 6 of Barangay Boulevard in Molo District, this city, and razed 44 houses and partially burned eight others. It left 61 families homeless, authorities said.
Superintendent Jerry Candido, fire marshal of the Bureau of Fire Protection-Iloilo City, said investigation showed the fire was caused by an unattended cooking by Willie Cordero, a boarder of one of the burned houses.
Candido said the fire in Molo caused an estimated damage to property of P15 million.
There was another fire along Aldeguer Street at the City Proper that Monday when the Longwin Retail Shop building was gobbled up and about P30 million worth of stocks lost.
Candido said investigators traced the cause of the fire to an electrical short circuit on the building’s ground floor. A Longwin employee said the fire started at around 9:30 a.m. just as they were opening the store.
The BFP declared the fire under control at around 1:30 p.m. and a fire out at 3:30 p.m. The fire occurred in the area where plastics, curtains, slippers, Christmas decorations, and clothes were stocked. (FREEMAN)