Fires hit 2 houses in Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Two fires broke out in separate areas here in a span of over an hour Monday morning, destroying P120,00 worth of properties, authorities said.

The first fire alarm broke out at 9:38 a.m. in the one-story house of Bienvenido Urbiztondo along Omega St., Barangay Apas, Cebu City.

But according to fire investigator FO2 Rudither Comeros, the blaze was immediately put out at 9:56 a.m. with the help of the neighbors and barangay fire volunteers.

Urbiztondo, a retiree, was reportedly in Surigao, Mindanao at the time of the incident

The fire damaged only the bedroom of Urbiztondo where an exhaust fan remained plugged for over a week, Comeros said.

He said the exhaust fan could have overheated and resulted in a fire that caused about P50,000 damage.

After containing the fire in Apas, the firemen again responded to another fire alarm that occurred at 10:50 a.m. in the house of Vilma Marquez in Nivel Hills, Barangay Busay, also in Cebu City.

Comeros said Marquez’s son Zaldy, in his 30’s, claimed that he was just awakened by a commotion at the ground floor of the two-story house.

When he saw that the house had caught fire which had spread, he promptly went out of the house and was not able to bring anything.

Comeros said the fire might have been caused by “electrical misuse.”

He said the fire, which was put under control at 11:07 a.m., destroyed the whole house of Marquez with the damage estimated at P70,000.