Two-hour fire in T. Padilla, Cebu City razes 40 houses

The fire at the back of the public market in Barangay T. Padilla, Cebu City on Jan. 4, 2020 razed 40 houses. |CDND Photo/ Alven Marie A. Timtim

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The family of Archie, 46, a vendor inside Barangay T. Padilla Public Market, Cebu City, breathe a sigh of relief after they learned – an hour later – that only the roof of their 50-year-old house was damaged by the fire that hit Sitio Bucog, just behind the market around 10 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, 2020.

But Archie and his family were the lucky ones. Many of their neighbors lost their homes when around 40 houses were burned down by the two-hour fire that broke out at 10:32 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, 2020, and was only put out around at 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, January 5.

According to Fire Officer 2 Fulbert Navarro, of the Cebu City fire department, the fire was reported to have started on the second floor of the boarding house owned by a certain Rodrigo Avila.

Residents whose houses were affected by the fire that hit Sitio Bucog, Barangay T. Padilla past 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020,  flock inside the P. Padilla Public Market to take shelter, logging with them whatever belonging they can bring. | CDND Photo/ Alven Marie A. Timtim

Since the boarding house and the other houses around it were made of light materials, Navarro said it was easy for the fire to spread fast.

Navarro said they were yet to find out what caused the fire as they still have to gather the witnesses who were inside the boarding house when the incident happened.

“Walay tawo ato nga time sa second floor (No one was in the second floor when the incident took place),” said Navarro.

The estimated damage to properties was initially pegged at P500,000.

Archie’s family, whose house was right across the boarding house that first caught fire,  was indeed lucky as only parts of their home were damaged.

However, for Cheryl Bontuyan, who rented a room on the ground floor of the boarding house that caught fire, it was unfortunate that it had to happen after the New Year celebration and just days before the Sinulog Festival.

Bontuyan said she was not able to bring any of her belongings as she thought of her and her family’s safety first when she saw that the fire has started to grow bigger.

At this time, the number of displaced and injured persons are still being consolidated by the Cebu City Fire Department and the city’s social welfare office./elb