Tejero fire: Arson suspected

Residents go through what’s left of their houses after a fire broke out in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City on Sunday, September 10, 2023. CDN Digital photo | Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Fire officials suspect arson in the fire that broke out in Sitio Laurente in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City on Sunday evening, September 10, 2023.

Authorities have in custody Leonil Demecillo Rivera, 29, the suspect of the second fire that hit the village on Sunday. According to fire officials, Rivera will be facing charges of arson.

The fire in Sitio Laurente was the second in the village in a day. The first was also in a residential area in U. Alviola Street, Sitio Back Blessed.

READ: 2 fire incidents in Brgy. Tejero on Sept. 10

Witnesses pointed to Rivera as the person who started the fire.

However, Senior Fire Officer 2 Wendell Villanueva of Cebu City Fire Station said that since the case is still under investigation as they don’t have enough proof that Rivera started the fire.

“As to the unsay iyang gidauban, di pa nato na ma butyag karon kay ongoing pa ang pag process sa pagpasaka og kaso,” he told reporters on Monday, September 11.

(As to what was used to start the fire, we still can’t determine because as of now, the process of filing of charges is still ongoing.)

Villanueva, though, said that Rivera admitted that the fire started in his room. This information helped the progress of the investigation.

Villanueva assured that cases of arson will be charged against Rivera, even if the latter is still not in the right state of mind.

But in an interview with reporters, Rivera denied the allegations that he intentionally started the fire for some illegal acts.

Rivera said that he was on the second floor of their home when the incident happened.

Rivera said the fire could have started due to the mosquito coil that he lit before he went to the third floor of their home to get some food.

He said that he placed the mosquito coil on the floor at the corner of their room.

When he returned to his room, he noticed that there was smoke coming from inside.

“Pagnaog nako, nagkayo na. Wala kaabot mga dos minutos sukad sa akong pagpaluto (og pagkaon), nagkayo na akong kwarto,” he said.

(When I came down, it was already burning. It didn’t take two minutes since I had something cooked, my room was already burning.)

He also said that it was impossible for him to put out the fire because it spread quickly.

He explained to reporters that what happened was merely an accident.

The fire reached third alarm status at 8:26 p.m.

The fire was under control by 8:44 p.m. and it was declared fire out at 8:50 p.m.

Based on the initial data, as of 11:30 p.m. there were 17 houses affected, the affected families were 41, and the total number of individuals affected was 163.

The reported figures are to be changed since the fire investigators were still at the scene as of this writing to continue their investigation.

/bmjo