Boy saves sleeping mom, sister from burning house in Minglanilla, Cebu

P14,000 worth of property lost as afternoon fire razed two-storey house

Firefighters battle a fire that hit a two-storey house in Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla town in southern Cebu on September 26, 2023. | LGU Minglanilla via Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 9-year-old boy saved his mother and sister, who were sleeping inside the house when a fire hit it in Purok Halwan, Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla town on the early afternoon of September 26.

According to Fire Officer 2 (FO2) William Alicante, investigator of the Minglanilla Fire Station, that the boy was playing outside when he noticed smoke coming out from their house at past 1 p.m. that day.

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Boy wakes mother, sister

The boy hurriedly went inside and woke up his mother, who was then sleeping at the first floor of their two storey house.

The investigator said that the mother panicked and she failed to turn off the circuit breaker as she rushed together with her children out of the burning house by then.

Alicante said that they were investigating if the cause of the fire was caused by the circuit breaker of the house.

An afternoon fire in Minglanilla town on September 26, 2023, destroyed a two-storey house there. | LGU Minglanilla via Paul Lauro

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Cause of fire still being investigated

“Amo pang gitan-aw kung ang plangka ba ang nakasugod sa sunog, pero sa pagkakaron di pa mi kahatag og unsay nakasugod sa sunog kay giimbestigar pa namo,” he said.

(We are investigating if the circuit breaker caused the fire, but for now we cannot give (information about) what really caused the fire because we are still investigating it.)

Alicante said that the owner of the house, Jerome Segundino, the husband of the wife and the father of her children, was out of the house and working at that time.

The fire investigator said that the fire did not spread because the houses nearby were made of concrete.

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Estimated damage to property: P14,000

However, he said Segundino’s two storey house, which was made up of concrete and wood, was razed.

Alicante estimated the damage to property at p14,000.

He said that the fire was reported at 1:17 p.m. on  Tuesday, September 26.

It was raised to the first alarm at 1:20 p.m., which meant that more firetrucks and firefighters were needed to put out the fire.

The fire was placed under control at 1:42 p.m. and the firefighters declared fire out at 1:53 p.m.

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