An 8-year-old girl died when she was trapped inside her grandmother’s burning house while trying to save her pet Chihuahua at near midnight yesterday in Sitio Hi-way Central, Barangay Don Andres Soriano (DAS), Toledo City.
Senior Fire Officer 3 Leonardo Clarido of the Toledo Fire Station identified the victim as Ritchel Jane Laborte.
Clarido said Laborte already managed to drag her 6-year-old sister, Reil Kyle, out of the house, but she went back to save her pet dog and got trapped inside the burning house instead.
The victim’s grandmother, Luzviminda Sarno, three other relatives, Riel, and Ritchel were already outside the house when the victim rushed back in to save her dog.
He said Ritchel and her sister were under the care of their grandmother because their father is in jail and their mother already passed on.
According to the initial investigation, the fire started from the embers of a bonfire, which got carried by the wind and landed on their house.
Clarido said the children made the bonfire using an old tire after they got scared of the continuous barking and howling of their dog at 9 p.m.
He said the fire started at near midnight yesterday and was controlled at about 2 a.m. Sarno’s house was razed.
Clarido placed the damage to property at P20,000.