Traffic enforcer injured in fire

A CEBU City traffic enforcer was injured while at least 37 homes were razed in a fire which hit residential areas in Cebu City and Minglanilla town on Wednesday.

Roy Coronado of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) was brought to the Visayas Community Medical Center where he remains
under observation.

Nagiel Bañacia, head of the city’s Disaster Management Office, said Coronado responded to the fire alarm at Sitio Agay-ay in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City yesterday afternoon when he was electrocuted.

The fires in Cebu City and Minglanilla town came two days after a huge fire also damaged 302 homes in Barangay Ermita and resulted to the death of three children.

Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Romeo Birao of the Cebu City Fire Station said that the Tejero fire was believed to have been caused by unattended cooking at the residence of a certain Willy Brigoli.

The fire, which was reported at 2:52 p.m., burned at least 10 structures. Damage was estimated at P100,000.

Tejero Councilor Jessielou “Jingjing” Cadungog said the fire victims will occupy an open space inside the nearby Doña Pepang cemetery until they are able to rebuild their homes. They will be provided with tents.

“Had it not been for the firewall, the fire could have also burned homes located on the other side of the fence,” he added.

Barely five hours earlier or at around 10:11 a.m., a fire also burned 27 homes in Sitio Lower Riverside, Lower Lipata in Barangay Linao, Minglanilla.
Damage caused by the fire was pegged at P125,000.

Fire Office 1 (FO1) Fulbert Navarro of the Minglanilla Fire Station said that a certain Jeffrey Sabua is now detained after he admitted to having started the fire.

Jeffrey is a relative of Selene Sabua, the owner of the house where the fire was said to have started.

“He (Jeffrey) is now detained at the Minglanilla Police Station. We are still determining his relationship with the houseowner but we also received information from their neighbors that he is allegedly a drug dependent. That’s why we coordinated with the police,” Navarro added.

Rebuild

Genevieve Alcoseba, head of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), said that the 759 fire-affected families from Barangay Ermita will be allowed to rebuild their homes provided that they are beneficiaries of the city government’s socialized housing program.

“As of now, rebuilding structures on the fire site is not advisable since it still poses hazards and threats. We want the area to be ground zero. Probably on Thursday, we will be assessing as to what type of heavy equipment are needed since most of the structures here are already concrete,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Ermita Barangay Captain Mark Miral said the barangay is allocating P450,000 of their 2018 calamity funds to help the fire victims purchase construction materials.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña visited the 53 families staying at the Ermita Sports Complex on Wednesday morning and gave out P50 as “a little assistance” for snacks or ice cream to each child who came to him.

The mayor said he already donated 90 tents for the affected families.

Help needed

Dionisio Digman, 65, said while they need shelter, the family also needs money for the burial of his two grandchildren who perished during the dawn fire last Monday and for the continued treatment of two other family members who are now at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

Dionisio, a fisherman from Baybay town, Leyte province traveled to Cebu City on Tuesday after hearing of the “tragedy”. His son Joel, 34, and his granddaughter Jennelyn, 13, suffer from severe burns on their body.

Joel is father of Jovielyn, 9, and John Mark, 2, who were trapped inside their burning home. Their charred bodies were recovered after the fire was put out.

A third casualty identified as Princess Mae Echavez (not Chavez as previously reported) also died the next day while undergoing treatment at VSMMC for severe burns on her body.

Echavez is the niece of Ida Alolod, Joel’s live-in-partner.

Four other relatives of Joel who lived close to their burnt home are also still being treated at the hospital.

“Grabe gyud ang tragedy nga ni igo sa among pamilya,” he said. /with reports from Correspondent Inna Gian Mejia