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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – At least 20 houses were gutted when a fire broke out in this city on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
City fire marshal Fire Superintendent Nilo Caabay said the fire, that lasted about an hour, left 30 families homeless in Barangay (village) San Miguel. He added that the incident was reported to their office at 10:49 a.m.
It was declared under control at 11:19 a.m.
“While on the way, we already saw a large volume of smoke indicating that the fire was already spreading in the area,” Caabay said. Most of the houses affected, which included boarding houses, were made of light materials which caused the fire to spread faster.
“The good thing is that when we arrived at the fire scene, it no longer spread to other houses as our firefighters were able to respond as firefighting equipments were deployed immediately,” Caabay said.
He further stated that the incident was reported to them a little bit late.
“That’s what we keep reminding everyone – immediately report incidents for us to be able to respond at once,” he said.
Caabay said investigators are still on the site making further assessment on the total cost of the fire and to determine its cause.
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