Cebu fire razes 34 houses

Thirty-four houses were razed in a midmorning fire in sitio (sub-village) Bagong Buhay, Barangay (village) Don Andres Soriano (DAS, formerly Lutopan), Toledo City on Monday.

Senior Inspector Randy Mendaros, fire marshal of the Toledo City fire station, said the fire started at the unoccupied house of Rey Alguno, who is residing in Cebu City.

Alguno, his siblings and relatives had just held a reunion in his house on Easter Sunday, Mendaros said.

Because of this, he said, they suspected that an electrical device was left without unplugging it on Sunday and might have caused the fire.

“But we are still conducting an investigation. We are also coordinating with the Cebu Electric Cooperative to check the electrical wirings of the house,” Mendaros said.

Although two fire trucks and four water tankers from the nearby Carmen Copper Corp. arrived early and conducted firefighting operation quickly, the nearby houses, which were made of light materials, were destroyed by the fire that occurred in a densely populated area.

Aside from the Toledo City fire station, firetrucks from the towns of Balamban, Pinamungahan, San Fernando, Minglanilla and the city of Naga also responded to the fire alarm.

The damage was pegged at P500,000. No one was hurt. The victims were temporarily relocated at the barangay hall.