Entire household perishes in Gensan fire

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—A 38-year-old woman, her three children and househelp died in a fire that swept through their house at the Gensanville Subdivision in Barangay Bula here early Thursday, the local fire department said.

Fire investigator SF03 Romeo Pantoja identified the victims as Leonora Barace, 38; her children Aldrin Adrian, 16; Minjyl, 11; and Andrew, 8; and the househelp, identified only as Judith.

Pantoja said the victims’ neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion before the fire broke out at 3 a.m.

He said the neighbors then saw flames engulfing the Barace house and tried to put out the fire before the firemen arrived.

“The firefighters failed to enter the house immediately as the steel gate was padlocked and there was no other entry point,” Pantoja said.

When the fire was put out at 5 a.m., Pantoja said, the bodies of the victims were found in different parts of the house. Judith’s body was found near the steel gate. Leonora’s body and that of her daughter Minjyl were found at the kitchen, while that of the eldest, Aldrin Adrian, was found in the bathroom. Andrew’s body was found where the master bedroom was.

Rodrigo Buot, purok chair of Gensanville Subdivision, said it appeared the victims tried to run away from the flames but had no way out.

“There’s no other way in and out except through the steel gate. The victims were all trapped inside,” Buot said.

He said the head of the family, Aldrin Barace, was in Dubai where he works as an engineer.

Pantoja said the cause of the fire was still undetermined.