AN 82-year-old woman was burned to death yesterday after she was trapped inside her burning hut in Barangay Malolos, a mountain barangay about 10 kilometers away from town proper in Barili town in western Cebu.
Dionisia Empinado, who lived alone in her small hut made of light materials, was trapped inside her hut because she could barely walk because of her age, said Fire Officer William Fabian of Barili fire station.
Her son, who lived in an adjacent house, was not around and was tending to his plants in the mountains when the incident happened.
Fabian said that initial investigation showed that Empinado was cooking using firewood and left what she was cooking in the dirty kitchen inside the house to rest inside the hut.
A few minutes later, the house was on fire and it started from the dirty kitchen, said Fabian.
Fabian said that they received the fire alarm at 9:20 a.m. and it took them about 20 to 30 minutes to reach the fire scene which was 10 km away from the Poblacion where the fire station was located.
Fabian said they found the charred remains of Empinado covered with debris at the fire scene.
Fabian said the damage to property was estimated to be P3,000.
Empinado’s death is the first death this month caused by fire.
Last month, two separate fire incidents in Cebu City and Mandaue City claimed the lives of five persons.
A baby and a three-year-old child were the dead in Sitio Budlaan, Barangay Talamban, Cebu City fire on Sept. 28, 2016, while a high school student and two others were
burned to death inside their house in the early September fire in Mandaue City.
In the two fire incidents, the cause of the fire was blamed on electrical misuse.
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