Man, 70, dead after setting fire to wasp nest in house

CEBU CITY—A 70-year-old man in a mountain village here died in a fire that he started to stop wasps from building a nest in his house, authorities said.

Alfonso Lopez, who suffered severe burns, was trying to drive away wasps that were building a nest in his house in Barangay Babag which were made of light materials.

According to Timoteo Gabisay, village councilor, Lopez was alone at home when he lit a pile of leaves hoping that the smoke from the burning leaves would drive the wasps away.

The wasps had been building a nest on a bamboo wall of the house. The fire that Lopez started, however, grew and started to burn the wall, according to Gabisay.

Lopez tried to put the fire out as neighbors shouted at him urging him to flee his burning house.

The 70-year-old man, however, didn’t immediately flee as he tried to carry food with him.

Lopez was found lying on his stomach with severe burns on the back just outside his burned house.

The village was so remote that firemen failed to reach the burning house hours after the fire started.

Gabisay said he believed Lopez, who was known to have difficulty walking as a result of old age, tripped on his way out of his burning house.

Gabisay quoted one of Lopez’s son, Rizaldy, as saying the P23,000 Lopez was saving was burned, too.

The city has been hit by a series of fires in recent days, mostly razing poor communities.

Millions of pesos have been lost in property value in the fires, which also kept city officials busy dealing with resettlement concerns.