More than 1,000 displaced in Mambaling, Tabunok
A house owner tries to catch a pail of water thrown to him by neighbors helping put out a Saturday afternoon fire in barangay Tabunok, Talisay City. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Another fire broke out in Tabunok, Talisay city yesterday afternoon, less than 24 hours after fire struck in barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.
A total of 15 houses were destroyed, displacing 60 families.
Three sitios of barangay Mambaling in Cebu City were placed under calamity status ––Mangga, Tugas and Delos Reyes.
More than 100 homes were eaten by fire in the dense urban barangay on Friday afternoon. A total of 117 families or 800 persons lost their homes.
READ: Fire hits barangay Mambaling
Barangay Mambaling chairman Wilfredo Go said the barangay council held an emergency session at 9 pm last Friday
With the calamity declaration, Go said barangay Mambaling will use P135,000 of their calamity fund to buy canned food, rice and noodles for the victims.
Donations from the public are welcome, he said, because victims need food, kitchen utensils and used clothing. Donations can be sent to the barangay hall.
Damage was pegged at P700,000, said Chief Fire Insp. Rogelio Bongabong.
Prioritized
Go said they will wait for the final assessment from the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) on the number of affected families and persons before buying the food.
The victims are staying at the Mambaling Elementary School and Mambaling Night High School, occupying 16 classrooms.
The victims were supposed to be evacuated to the barangay gym but Mayor Michael Rama said the health of the victims especially the children should be prioritized.
Social workers started to distribute food packs to the victims Friday. This will continue for three days.
Go said they initially talked with the school principal and Simeon Romarate of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and initially agreed to transfer classes to the school’s sports complex.
Renters
Go said he will also recommend to Mayor Rama to reblocking the area before the victims will be allowed to rebuild their houses.
In Talisay City, Senior Fire Investigator Paz Cuyno said the fire broke out at 3:33 pm and was put out at 5:20 pm.
The fire originated in the room on the second floor of the house owned by Vicente Francisco Elorde Jr.
Elorde told investigators that his house was occupied by renters but he could not name the person who rented the room in the second floor.
Light materials
Elorde, who lives beside the boarding house, said he saw smoke coming out from the second floor of the boarding house followed by an explosion.
Cuyno said no one was injured in the fire which hit an interior area of the community. The houses were mostly made of light materials. Cuyno said they had to connect 10 hoses in order to penetrate the site. She said fire volunteers from seven barangays of Talisay as well as fire trucks from Cebu City, Mandaue City and Minglanilla town responded to the fire alarm.
The damage was pegged at P150,000. The fire victims were relocated to the Tabunok gym, she said. /With Correspondents Chito Aragon and Apple Mae Ta-as and UP Cebu Intern Mary Claire U. Catado