Public told: Check house wiring

Firefighters battle the fire in Gabutan Compound, Barangay Guadalupe.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

The public is encouraged to be conscious of the electric wiring in their area and their houses after Cebu City was hit by another fire yesterday, the fourth fire incident in four days.

Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak, chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Public Order and Safety, said yesterday that the public should be conscious of this especially since most of the fire incidents that hit the city in the past four days were due to electric misuse and from electric wiring.

“Alarming na g’yud ni (This is alraming already). Ni occur man gud siya right after kadtong sagunson ang ulan naa g’yud fire incident right after (The first fire incident happened right after the heavy downpour). Nasudlan siguro nag tubig ang mga electric wirings (sic) (The rains could have wet the electric wiring),” Tumulak said.

Tumulak reminded the public to check every now and then the wiring in their homes, especially those who are in densely populated residential areas.

“If gigamit na for 10 years or 20 years, (you) might as well change it. It’s for their safety also. Specially dunay damage ilahang wiring that will cause heat,” Tumulak said.

Nagiel Bañacia, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRMO) officer in charge, said the public must also be thoroughly educated on the risks and hazards of electrical misuse to prevent more fire incidents from happening.

He said that the fires must have been caused by “overloading” of appliances plugged into short electrical wiring or overheating of electrical appliances.

“People must avoid prolonged use and overloading of electrical appliances, as these are the most common causes of electrical misuse. A typical plug has a maximum capacity of two appliances only. Other users also fall into the mistake of using an extension wire (with an outlet) but still plugging in more appliances, which may result to overloading (of the outlet),” Banacia said during a phone interview.

Yesterday, a late morning fire hit a residential compound in Sitio Guadalajara, Barangay Guadalupe, which destroyed eight houses and left 23 families homeless.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Roland delos Reyes, said the fire started in the house of Rogelio Yballe, who was reportedly away when the incident happened at 11 a.m.

The fire was put out at past noon.

Investigators were looking into reports that the fire was caused by electrical misuse or faulty electrical wiring.

Delos Reyes also estimated the damage to property at P150,000.

Yesterday’s fire incident was the fourth in Cebu City since Sept. 28, which left an estimated 80 families homeless or 213 individuals, and left two children dead.

The first of the string of fire incidents destroyed an electronics store in Sabellano Street in Barangay Punta Princesa 8 a.m. on Sept. 28. Barely four hours later, 15 houses were destroyed by another fire at Sitio Hillside in Barangay Talamban at 11:58 a.m. The fire was reportedly caused by a ceiling fan. A three-year-old boy and a two-month-old baby were killed in that fire.

On September 30, a three-story house with a scrap iron shop in Lucio Lopez Drive, Barangay Calamba, was also destroyed by fire.