Firemen hustle to douse off the fire that hit seven sitios in barangay Lorega, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
At least 700 houses in seven sitios of barangay Lorega, Cebu City were destroyed by a fire that broke out at 4:55 p.m. yesterday.
Smoke from the fire which some witnesses described as an “inferno” after it spread through 70 to 80 percent of barangay Lorega were seen as far as Sergio Osmeña Road in the North Reclamation Area.
Senior Insp. Leoncio Baliguat of the Parian police precinct said sitios Itom Yuta, Laguna and Lawis were affected by the fire while sitios San Miguel, Lorega proper, Camansi and Pantum sustained damages.
Most of the houses were made of light materials. Firetrucks from as far as Naga City located 22 kilometers south of Cebu responded to the fire alarm that was received by the Cebu City Fire Department at 6 p.m.
The ancestral house of the family of dyLA sales manager Eric Carlos near the Señor San Roque chapel was spared from the fire. His younger sister Cheryl believed it was a miracle.
Residents of barangay Lorega try to move a vehicle that blocked the road in Imus to give way to the fire trucks. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
Carlos who couldn’t bear to see his house destroyed by the fire sought refuge in his sister’s house in barangay Carreta.
Despite the many fires that hit Lorega, Cheryl said the chapel and their ancestral home had always been spared.
Most of the fire trucks that arrived in Lorega had just put out a fire in sitio Telecom, barangay Casuntingan in Mandaue City and had to fill their tanks with water to deal with the Lorega blaze.
It was nearly 8 p.m when the fire was placed under control. The cause of the fire and the damage estimate has yet to be known.
No one was reported injured. In Mandaue City, three surplus car shops and a restaurant were destroyed by fire in siito Telecom, barangay Casuntingan at past 2 p.m. yesterday.
The Mandaue City Fire Department received the alarm at 2:55 p.m. and they managed to put it out at 3:35 p.m.
Senior Fire Insp. Joel Abarquez said witnesses told them that the fire originated inside the JID Surplus Compound and spread to the nearby 2-Way Car Surplus shop, the Car Biz Surplus and Pampas Grill and Restaurant.
Joseph Oliver Wencceslao, JID Surplus manager, denied the fire originated from their office.
