Fire causes P59.5M in damage in Cebu City

A fire engulfs a building in Barangay Sto. Niño, Cebu City on Friday morning, April 8, 2022. | CCFO Facebook photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Around P59 million worth of property was damaged in a fire in downtown Cebu City on Friday morning, April 8, 2022

The Cebu City Fire Office pegged the estimated cost of damage at P59.5 million in the fire that was reported at 8:40 a.m. and was declared ‘fire out’ at 12:16 p.m. 

The fire engulfed two buildings along Legaspi Street in Barangay Sato. Niño. The buildings sat on a 1,700 square meter area. 

LOOK: Fire hits establishment in downtown Cebu City

Fortunately, no fatality or injury was reported in this fire incident.

According to Senior Fire Officer (SFO2) Wendell Villanueva, information officer of the Cebu City Fire Office, the fire initially started on the third floor of a five-story building. However, they have yet to verify this pending further investigation. 

“Dunay nag renovate, didto [possible nag sugod], gitan-aw nila possible dunay nag welding. After ma gather ang information, makahatag ta’g dugang nga detalye,”  Villanueva said. 

(There was a renovation being done, it could have started there. Possibly there was someone who doing welding activities. After gathering all information, we can give more details.)

Villanueva said the fire was spotted through a 360 degree-camera installed in the city, which eventually was also called in and reported to them. 

The fire was raised to third alarm at 8:55 a.m. 

Villanueva said that their simultaneous exercise on high rise building last March 29, 2022,  greatly helped firefighters in putting out this fire. 

READ: CCFO shows off disaster preparedness on high rise buildings

Of the four aerial ladders that CCFO has, Villanueva said that they only used one for this fire incident. 

With this, Villanueva said they will do monthly simulation exercises involving high rise buildings to further enhance their skills in responding to situations like this. 

/bmjo