Firefighters train their hoses on burning houses as they fight to control yesterday afternoon’s fire at J. Panis Street in barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Ferdinand Yallax, 30, held his 6-month-old baby as he ran out of the fire that destroyed a commercial building and 20 houses and partly damaged two other houses in sitio Ibaan, barangay Banilad, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
A father of four, Yallax was glad that his wife and three other kids were not in the house when the blaze broke out. Some reports said the fire started in the house of Raymond Bindo.
However, Bindo’s wife Melissa said it started in the second floor of the carenderia owned by Raymond Rosales next door.
“Kun sa amo pa na nagsugod, patay na unta mi,” said an angry Melissa, who was unable to save any of their belongings. She rushed her children aged 6, 4 and 2 years old who were sleeping to safety first.
She tried to go back for their things but the heat prevented her.
A 30-foot billboard fell on one house. The bars holding it had melted. Other big billboards eventually collapsed on the burning houses while glass windows of nearby buildings, including that of the PDI condominium beside J. Panis Street where the blaze broke out, were shattered.
No one was injured.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella went to the fire scene to comfort victims, who will receive food packs from the city government for three days as standard procedure. They were temporarily housed at the Banilad Sports Complex.
The fire affected an interior portion near Gaisano Country Mall.
Drenched from head to toe, Diosol Andales, 26, carried his TV from their house. He dragged his father out of the house and came back to save all that he could. Most of the items he was able to carry were wet.
Others were not as lucky, fleeing the blaze with only the clothes on their backs. A pregnant Bonita Pulbera was awakened by the heat. Sensing danger, she grabbed her 2-year-old child and fled.
The fire alarm was raised at 2:42 p.m.
When the fire broke out, personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) led by Cebu City Fire Marshall Bongabong were conducting a fire drill with members of Emergency Response Team (ERT) at the IT park in Apas, said Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman.
“Nakabantay mi kusog naman ang aso, akong giingnan si Major Bongabong nga sunog naman ni”, said Ayuman. (I told Major Bongabong that what we were seeing was already a fire.)
The group ran to the area and found that fire trucks had not yet arrived.
Arson investigator Lowel Opolentisima said the fire was controlled under 30 minutes.
Banilad Barangay Captain Nicolas Leyson Jr. said they will meet to discuss their next course of action.
The fire damaged houses, lodging houses and food stalls along J. Panis Street. It also damaged a lotto outlet and a Cebuano Lhuillier pawnshop in the area before it affected the PDI condominium across the street.
Gia Cañeda, a first-year student of University of Cebu (UC) Banilad campus who was renting a room in a boarding house near the fire site, said they heard something explode before the fire.
SFO2 Nick Ouano said they will verify the claims of the residents in determining the cause of the fire./Correspondents Chito P. Aragon, Edison delos Angeles with Gabriel C. Bonjoc and UPVTC Intern Le-an Lai Lacaba