Cebu. INQUIRER FILES
CEBU CITY — A couple and their two teenage sons died while eight others were injured when a fire engulfed a residential area in Sitio Lucia, Barangay Tinago here past 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Fire investigators believed that Parulito and Rosita Otadoy, 60 and 54 respectively; along with their sons Joseph, 14; and Jeffrey, 12; were in deep sleep when the fire broke out.
Based on the data of Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO), at least 13 houses were destroyed while three were damaged in the fire.
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Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire that lasted for three hours.
Damage was pegged at P7 million.
Thirty families, composed of 90 individuals, were affected by the fire and are currently housed in the Tinago gym.
SFO2 Wemdell Villanueva, spokesperson of CCFO, said that it is possible that the Otadoy couple and their children were sleeping and did not notice.
“Perhaps, when they woke up, the fire was already too big and they could no longer escape,” he said.
Monaliza Otadoy, daughter of the Otadoy couple, survived the fire. She said her parents and younger siblings were sleeping on the third floor of their house while she and other members of the family were sleeping on the lower floors.
When she noticed the fire, Monaliza said she immediately rescued those near her.
She said she later noticed that her parents and other two siblings were not able to get out of their house.
The other members of the Otadoy family who were injured were Sean Roby, Rose Ann, Jemar, Emarie, Keira Marie, Neil John, Christopher, and Dylan.
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It has yet to be established how many children the Otadoy couple have and their relationship with those who were injured.
Villanueva said around 57 fire trucks responded to the fire in Tinago.
The firefighters received the fire alarm at 1:43 a.m. and were put out at 5 a.m.
Villanueva admitted they had many challenges during the operation.
“The place was a residential area and the way towards the incident was too narrow. Also, many houses were made of light materials. Those were among the obstacles encountered,” he said.