Another fire hits Cebu, 32 houses in Banawa

A weeping Marilyn Rabago is comforted by her neighbors and relatives as she agonizes over the fire in Upper Kalubihan, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City that ate up her house.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

Only two days shy of March, the country’s designated Fire Prevention Month, another fire razed 32 houses in Cebu City, this time in Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.

As of 7:15 last night, City Hall’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) listed a total of 41 families or 230 individuals were rendered homeless in the blaze which lasted less than an hour.

According to Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Cebu City operations chief, SFO4 Jovito Abelgas, firefighters immediately rushed to the scene in Upper Kalubihan, Virginia Hills, as soon as the alarm was sounded at around 12:47 p.m., Tuesday.

But the area was difficult to penetrate because of its narrow roads while the blaze continued to eat its way through houses made of light materials.
To put out the fire, firemen had to connect eight water hoses from the main road to reach the burning structures.

The fire was put under control at 1:18 p.m. leaving damage to an estimated P150,000 worth of properties.

An initial investigation conducted by the fire department revealed that the fire started in the house of a certain Norberto Ermetanio, where a group of children reportedly played with matches.

Elizabeth Ultiano, 25, said she had just finished eating lunch when she heard the panicked voices of her neighbors screaming “Sunog! Sunog! (Fire! Fire!)”

Ultiano’s husband, a construction worker, was not in the house when the fire broke. Her eldest son was in school while her youngest child was by her side.

Their house was completely burned down.

“I was only able to take a few things but I am thankful because nobody was hurt. Everyone is safe,” she said in Visayan.

Ultiano was able to save the family’s 24-inch color TV, some kitchen utensils and a bucket filled with eggplants, ampalaya and cucumber.

The village council convened an emergency meeting last night to discuss their financial assistance to the fire victims.

Barangay Guadalupe Councilor Apol Rose Enriquez, chairperson for health and social services, said that they will provide immediate assistance of food and water to affected families.

For his part, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief, Nagiel Bañacia, said that the victims will be placed at an evacuation site within the vicinity of the burned area.

The families were provided with food and emergency kits, which contained kitchen utensils, mats, mosquito nets and other household necessities, said Bañacia.

“Inside these kits are materials which will help the families to immediately normalize their lives after experiencing a fire or a disaster,” Bañacia told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.

Pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 115-A signed in 1966 by then President Ferdinand Marcos, March was designated as Fire Prevention Month to propagate safety consciousness among the people every day of the year.

The proclamation describes the initiative as a “positive preventive approach to a problem that can be solved by more caution, vigilance, sobriety, exercise of common sense and respect for the law.”

Historically, the month of March has recorded high incidents of fire in the country partly on account of its high temperatures and humidity and the more frequent use of electrical appliances.

In Cebu, there has been a series of fires recorded since the start of 2018, the largest being the blaze which hit Metro Ayala at the Cebu Business Park last January 5 which resulted to an estimated damage of P100 million, according to BFP- Central Visayas.