13 homes razed; 200 people displaced

Residents helplessly watch as the fire guts their houses in Sitio Sto. Niño, Barangay Quiot, Cebu City. The early afternoon fire on Saturday destroyed 13 houses.
CDN PHOTO/TITO TAN

QUIOT FIRE

At least 100 families or 200 individuals were displaced after an early afternoon fire razed 13 houses and gutted six other homes.

Senior Fire Officer Ariel Balajadia, fire investigator of the Cebu City Bureau of Fire Protection, said they were looking into faulty electrical wiring as the cause of the fire.

Balajadia said that they estimated the damage to property at P120,000.

Investigation showed that the fire was reported at 11:51 a.m. on Saturday and was put under control at 12:21 p.m.

Balajadia said that the fire started at the second floor of the two-storey house rented by a certain Almie.

He said that no one was in the house when the fire started.

Balajadia said that there were at least 200 individuals or 100 families affected by the fire.

One of the fire victims, Rachel Longco, a 47-year-old market vendor, recounted how she lost her house to the fire.

Longco said that she was watching her favorite noontime show at her aunt’s house a few meters away from her house when she heard her neighbors yelling that a fire had broken out.

“Sige sila ug syagit nga ‘sunog!’ Mao to nangawas mi sa akong auntie. Paggawas, wala na, dako na kaayu ang aso. Dili na gud makit-an ang among panimalay (They keep shouting ‘fire!’ When my aunt and I went outside, there was already so much smoke that my house cannot be seen anymore),” she said.

Longco said that together with another aunt – her grandaunt – and her son, they painfully watched their houses being razed by the fire.
Longco’s 23-year-old son and 72-year-old grandaunt also lost their houses to the fire.

“Naa pa may nabilin sa akoa og sa akong anak pero akong tiya wala na jud. Ugdaw jud ilaha. Iyaha rang habol ang nakuha (Some things in my house, and that of my child’s, were not burned, but for my grandaunt, there was nothing. It was burned to the ground. She could only save her blanket),” she added.

Longco, her grandaunt and her son’s families are staying temporarily at another aunt’s house, which is a block away from the fire site.

She said that the city government had promised them financial assistance.

“Tagaan daw mi og financial assistance. Pasalamat mi tagaan mi kay kinahanglan jud namo ang kwarta pampalit og bag-ong materyales (They promised us financial assistance. I’m grateful that we’re granted with financial assistance since we need the money to buy new materials),” she said.

She also said that they own the property where their house once stood.

Yesterday, most of the displaced fire victims stayed at the sitio’s chapel. They opted to stay there because after the fire, there was a heavy downpour which caused flooding in the area including that of the fire site.

Since the chapel is located in an elevated area, the fire victims decided to spend the night there.