One injured, 50 lose homes in Mandaue fire

Mandaue fire (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

One person was injured and 50 persons were displaced in a fire that destroyed six houses in barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue City at 11 a.m. yesterday.

SFO1 Cipriano Codilla said 20-year-old Leah Esconia sustained burns in her upper arm after she tried to salvage her belongings at her burning home.

The fire came from the house of Edgar Gutid who wasn’t at home when the fire broke out.

Codilla said he suspects faulty wiring caused the fire since Gutid admitted that it had been six years since he last checked the wiring at his home.

Gutid said there were a lot of rats in his home. The Mandaue City Fire Department received the alarm at 11:40 a.m.

They had to connect their hoses since the fire site was located in the interior portion of sitio Pilapil located about 80 meters from where their fire trucks are parked.

Cooking rice

The fire spread quickly and destroyed the six houses made of light materials.

The lot occupied by the houses was rented from owner Jack Guday. Codilla placed the damages at P150,000.

Some of the victims stayed with relatives in the city while others were housed in the barangay gym in Casuntingan.

The Mandaue City Social Welfare Services Office distributed food packs to the victims.

In sitio Lower Carreta, barangay Carreta, Cebu City, a fire destroyed a house owned by Alexander Morimon at 7:40 a.m. yesterday.

SF03 Daniel Relatado Jr., said Morimon’s neighbors managed to put out the fire themselves before firefighters reached the area.

Morimon was boiling rice and went outside to buy viand for breakfast when he saw the flames sweeping his home.

Relatado Jr. said the fire from the wood Morimon used to cook the rice may have spread to the fabric inside the plastic container just below where the rice pot is. Damages were pegged at P1,000.

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