Police and fire authorities cordon an area where Mario Abella, 65, has died in a fire that hit his home and razed 9 other houses in Tres de Abril, Barangay Labangon, Cebu City at 2:32 a.m. of March 14, 2019. |CDND Photo by Benjie B. Talisic
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A pre-dawn fire razed ten houses made of light materials in Tres de Abril, Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, killing the owner of the house where the fire originated and injuring two other members of his family.
The fatality was identified as Mario Abella, 65, from whose house the fire broke out at 2:32 a.m., according to Fire Chief Inspector Noel Ababon, Cebu City Fire Marshall.
Injured in the incident were a 34-year-old female, who suffered first degree burns in the back; and a seven-month-old boy who had first degree burns in the left arm and back. The exact relationship of Abella to the two injured was still being established.
Ababon said they were still determining the cause of the fire that quickly spread to neighboring nine other houses before it was placed under control at 3:25 a.m.
Ababon said a fire out was declared at 4:35 a.m. even as fire investigators are still in the area to determine what caused the fire.
But a grandson of Abella, James Adorable, told Cebu Daily News Digital that it was possible that his grandfather, who had been forgetful of late, might have been boiling water and had left it unattended.
The fire is the fifth to hit Cebu City since fire authorities kicked off the observation of the Fire Prevention Month on March 1.
READ MORE Four fires have hit Cebu City a week into the Fire Prevention Month
Abella was the lone fatality in all these fires. /elb