Fire destroys 175 houses in Cebu City

CEBU CITY—At least 175 families were rendered homeless late Wednesday afternoon after a fire gobbled 127 houses in a densely populated area in Barangay (village) Punta Princesa, Cebu City.

Fire investigators were still checking the cause of the fire, which was believed to have started at the house of Gregorio Bacon in Sitio (subvillage) Trinidad, Punta Princesa, at 5:44 p.m., said Cebu City Fire Marshall Aderson Comar.

Comar said the blaze quickly spread to three other sitios – Mercom, Tuburan and Acra – and ate away at least 127 homes before firefighters were able to control the fire at 7:36 p.m., or after an hour and 36 minutes.

Camilo Lopez, a hotel cook, suffered burns in the arms and face after he tried to save his computer games console from his burning house.

Comar said the fire displaced 175 families, of which at least 80 sought shelter at the Barangay Sports Complex. Others, however, opted to stay at the areas where their houses used to be.

Comar said the cause of the fire was yet to be determined, but some residents said they heard an explosion on the second floor of Bacon’s two-story house before the fire broke out.

The fire in Punta Princesa was the second to hit in Cebu City in four days.

Last Saturday, 100 homes were destroyed by a fire that struck an urban poor area in Barangay Tejero and displaced around 1,000 persons.