A mother was injured while her daughter died after a fire hit their house in Barangay Pajo in Lapu-Lapu City on Sunday, December 11. | Contributed photo via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A woman in her 20s died while her mother was injured in an early morning fire, today, Dec. 11, that razed their two-storey house in Sangi Road, Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City.
FO2 Jeffrey Gerodias, fire investigator of the Lapu-Lapu City Fire Station, identified the dead woman in his report as Cherubin Ybañez, whom he estimated to be around 26 to 27 years old.
Gerodias also said that the mother of the dead victim was injured during the fire and was brought to the hospital for treatment.
According to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan in his Facebook post where he visited the injured mother this morning at the hospital, that she suffered burns and cuts when she jumped from the window of the second floor of the house as she tried to escape from the fire which was spreading at the second floor of the house.
Mayor Chan said that the mother, Tesie, told him that she woke up and saw that the second floor of the house was already on fire, and she believed that it started from the ground floor.
“Ang sinugdanan sa kayo anaa sa ilang ubos paingon sa ilang second floor kung diin hinanok nga natulog ang iyang anak,” Tesie told Mayor Chan in the Chan’s FB post.
She said that she believed that her daughter was still asleep when the fire spread at the second floor and when she awoke could not get out already because the door and windows must already have been on fire.
She also said that she jumped from window and not noticing that her daughter was sleeping on the same floor with her at that time, and so she hurriedly jumped from the window, believing that she was the only one at the second-floor of the house then.
Chan told the injured mother that the city government would shoulder the burial expenses of her daughter from the coffin to the wake, and to bringing her to her final resting place.
As for the fire investigation, Gerodias, in an interview in Mayor Chan’s Facebook page, said that they were looking at two possible causes of the fire — one is the motor of the electric water pump at the ground floor of the house and electricity.
“The origin and cause of fire is under investigation pa. Usa ang injured, ang mama. Unya usa ang namatay, ang anak,” the fire officer of the Lapu-Lapu Fire Station also said.
(The origin and cause of fire is still under investigation. One was injured, the mother while one died, the daughter.)
He said that the daughter was living with the mother.
Gerodias, in his report, also said that the fire was reported at 5:49 a.m. on Sunday, Dec 11, 2022, and it was placed under control at 5:59 a.m.
He said that it was declared fire out at 6:30 a.m.
Gerodias estimated the damage to property at P33,000.
He said that the fire spread quickly because the house was made of light materials.
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