Calamba fire razes 37 houses

More than 30 houses in sitio Mahayahay, barangay Calamba, Cebu City were razed in yesterday’s fire which may have been caused by illegal wire tapping.
Calamba barangay councilor Yvonne Feliciano said that in their latest count, 37 houses were razed and 77 families were affected.
Illegal wire tapping was reportedly rampant in the area.
“This is a lesson for all of us to avoid wire tapping,” Feliciano said.
The fire started at the house of a certain Gemma.
According to Fire Marshall William Tacaldo, the fire started at 3:39 p.m. The fire alarm reached Task Force Alpha before it was controlled at 4:17 p.m.
Tacaldo said most of the houses were made of light materials.
The fire started in the middle portion of the place. Firetrucks had a hard time reaching the fire site because of narrow roads.
There was a fire hydrant in the area but it was empty.
SFO1 Omar Segovia was wounded in the nape after a debris fell on him while he and other firefighters were trying to put out the fire.
Ester Concha, head of the Department of Social Welfare and Services, fire victims were allowed to temporarily stay on the second floor of the barangay hall.
Tents were also installed in the basketball court as temporary shelters for the fire victims.
Concha said a reblocking in sitio Mahayahay is being planned to create a bigger right of way./CORRESPONDENT CHRISTINE EMILY L. PANTALEON