A fireman trains his hose at a burning house in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).
A cellphone that was left plugged, purportedly overnight, sparked a blaze that burned four houses, one of them totally, in Bayabas Extension, Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City on Tuesday.
Cebu City fire investigator SFO2 Roland delos Reyes said the alarm was received at around 11:03 a.m.
“Nahibilin ag cellphone nga naka-charge gipatong sa katre. Mao to dali nidakop ang kayo (The cellphone was left charging on top of the bed and that’s why the fire quickly spread),” delos Reyes said of the fire which started in the house of a certain Macky Lurica.
The blaze was put under control in thirty minutes; but it managed to spread, in no time, to three other homes made of light materials.
Damage was placed at P150,000.
There were no reported injuries except for a certain Jessica Soñega who was attended to by paramedics after fainting while watching her house burn.
Yesterday’s incident was the third fire to hit Cebu City this month following a blaze that razed around 112 houses in sitio CRCI (Cebu Rehabilitation Center Inc.), Barangay Apas last Monday and another in six sitios in Barangay Duljo-Fatima which razed more than 400 houses last Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, at about the same time yesterday, in Mandaue City, a fire damaged a house made of light materials along M.L. Quezon Street in Barangay Maguikay, at past 11 a.m.
The fire in the house of a certain Aura Reyes was believed caused by faulty electrical wiring which resulted to a short circuit.
Reyes was at work when the incident happened.
Neighbors tried to extinguish the fire with pails of water to prevent it from spreading to surrounding houses.
They were able to put out the fire by 12 noon before firefighters arrived in the area.