| Photo courtesy of the Balamban Fire Station
CEBU CITY, Philippines – An elderly woman was killed in a Monday afternoon fire that damaged her house in Lower Sacsac in Barangay Abucayan in Balamban town.
Estelita Deparine, 71, was killed after she was trapped inside her burning room, said Police Staff Sergeant Excel Aguanta of the Balamban Police Station.
Aguanta said that Deparine, who is a paralytic, was alone when the fire happened.
He said that Chona Completo, Deparine’s daughter, lighted a mosquito coil inside her mother’s room before she left their house at about 5:40 p.m.
Deparine, a widow, lives in her house alone. Completo, 45, would often visit her to check on her condition.
The mosquito coil may have burned combustible materials causing the fire to immediately spread, Aguanta said.
He said that Completo only learned of the fire after Deparine’s neighbors started to call for help.
Damage caused by the fire was pegged at P100, 000. / dcb