BACOLOD CITY — A fire on Saturday night displaced at least 201 individuals or 63 families in a densely populated area in Purok Tangkong, Barangay 7, in this city.
The Mayor’s Office reported that 38 houses were destroyed and two others were damaged.
Chief Inspector Stephen Jardeleza, Bacolod Fire Marshal, said the fire started from the house of Frederico Lumayno, who was cooking his food on a butane stove.
Lumayno admitted that he forgot that he was cooking and left to go to a wake, Jardeleza added.
He started cooking at past 7 p.m. and the Bureau of Fire Protection received the fire call at 9:48 p.m., Jardeleza said.
The houses in the squatter area were made of light materials and the fire spread swiftly.
“Firefighters had difficulty putting out the blaze because of the narrow pathway,” Jardaleza said.
The fire was put out at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, who was at the scene of the fire Saturday night, also visited the victims who were temporarily sheltered at the Villamonte gym on Sunday.
He assured the fire victims of government help.
Food, folding beds, sleeping and hygiene kits, modular tents and water have been provided the evacuees.
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