A man who braved the flames to save important documents was hurt in a fire that destroyed at least 30 houses in barangay Tingub in Mandaue City early yesterday morning.
Ramir Camiguez rushed back to his burning house in sitio Tondo to retrieve the birth certificates of his children as the fire swept through the community at 1 a.m.
“We have nowhere else to go, we lost everything,” he said as a barangay worker treated his wounds.
The fire started in the house of a certain Noel Hopia who is reportedly in Bohol. The house was empty before the fire struck.
Fire officials said about 92 families were rendered homeless in the fire that reached Task Force Alpha, a high level alarm. According to SFO1 Julius Lua, they were able to place the fire under control in 40 minutes.
Arson investigators have yet to arrive at a definite conclusion on what caused the fire. Damage was estimated to reach P300,000.
Most of the residents were not able to save their belongings.
“Our house is the third one in the row where the fire first hit. We were all asleep when we heard our neighbors shouting, urging us to get out of the house. When we saw the fire, we immediately went out. We took nothing of our belongings,” Linda Ambos said.
About 400 victims are temporarily taking shelter at the Tingub High School. Social welfare staffers from the Department of Social Welfare and Development immediately went to the evacuation center to distribute food and cooking utensils.
According to Barangay Captain Randy Pareja, they are still waiting for City Hall’s assistance to the families.
Pareja said the lot is owned by the Bihag family.