Very narrow alleys in an interior portion of Barangay Catarman, Cordova town, made it difficult for firemen to penetrate and control the fire that lasted for over an hour Wednesday evening.
A total of 39 houses were burned by the fire, of which 33 were totally damaged and six partially burnt. The houses were made of light materials.
SFO4 Randy Mario Cuizon, Cordova Fire Station chief, declared the fire as Task Force Alpha considering that the area is densely populated. Fire trucks from as far as Mandaue responded to the fire alarm.
“Kung wala pa namo madali, posible nga daghan pang masunog nga mga balay (If not for our quick response, more houses would have been damaged),” Cuizon said.
Cordova Fire Station received the alarm at 5:34 p.m. and was able to control the fire at 6:36 p.m. and declared the fire out at 7:20 p.m.
Based on their investigation, Cuizon revealed that the fire originated from the house of Mercy Pitallar, who alleged that her nine-year old daughter was cooking using a refilled butane canister when suddenly it caught fire.
Cuizon said Pitallar and her daughter were able to run out of the house when the fire broke out.
No one was reported hurt during the incident.
Cuizon pegged the damage at P600,000.
Cuizon said this is the biggest fire in the town this year.
The fire victims were temporarily evacuated at the barangay’s covered court. The municipality’s social welfare personnel distributed meals and emergency food packs to the 42 families who were victimized by the fire.
Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho is calling all her constituents to refrain from using refilled butane canister stove to prevent the fire from happening again.
To recall, Mayor Sitoy-Cho no longer issued business permits to butane-refilling station operators since she assumed post as mayor.