Apas fire destroys 43 houses, leaves 210 persons homeless

Arson investigators estimate the damage to property in yesterday’s Barangay Apas, Cebu City fire at P380,000. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

A noontime fire yesterday razed 43 houses and left 53 families made up of 210 individuals homeless at Sitio PC Hills Lower RD, Barangay Apas, Cebu City.

Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Jeffrey Solon, arson investigator, estimated the damage to property at P380,000.

Solon said that they were looking into reports of faulty electrical wiring as the cause of the fire.

According to Barangay Apas Captain Ramil Ayuman that initial investigation showed that the fire started in the house of Josephine Fetiluna.

Armand Espellargo, a neighbor of Fetiluna, told Ayuman that there was an explosion inside Fetiluna’s house before the fire started and spread quickly.

“After the explosion, smoke surged into our window in an instant,” Espellargo said in Cebuano.

Ramil Rosaupan, a barangay tanod who was assigned at the Apas Barangay Hall yesterday, said in a phone interview that the final report of Department of Social Welfare Services (DSWS) showed that the fire destroyed 43 houses in the area, displaced 53 families made up of 210 individuals.

Ayuman also said that the affected families were temporarily staying at the basketball court in PC Hills where they are provided with tents and given food and grocery items like noodles.

Ayuman said that barangay officials will have an emergency meeting to talk about the evacuation plans of the fire victims as well as the plan to declare the area in a state of calamity so as the barangay can have access to the calamity funds needed to help the victims.

Solon said the fire alarm was received past noon.

He said that fire was put under control at 12:40 p.m. And was declared fire out at 3:17 p.m./UP Cebu Intern Patrick Byron G. Gattoc