Cebu market fire kills boy

FIREFIGHTERS train their hoses at the burning stores and houses at the Carbon market in Sitio Warwick Barracks, Barangay (village) Ermita, that killed a 10-year-old boy. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—An hourlong fire of still unknown origin hit the premier public market of this city on Saturday, claiming the life of a 9-year-old boy, injuring four others and razing at least a hundred dry good and vegetable stalls.

The fire, which broke out at about 10:30 a.m., killed Jerry Compas, whose charred body was found at around 4 p.m. when fire investigators were sifting through the remains of the fire, said SPO4 Rey Cuyos, homicide investigator of the Cebu City police office.

Compas was the son of a single parent, Grace Conchas, 24, who was a helper in one of the stalls along Unit One of Carbon Market located in Sitio Warwick Barracks, Barangay (village) Ermita, that were destroyed by the fire, said Cuyos.

SFO2 Daniel Relatado, an investigator of the city’s fire department, said winds brought by a low pressure area off Mindanao contributed to the fire spreading fast.

The damage to properties was initially placed at P1 million, said Relatado.

The police station building in front of the Carbon market was partly damaged, prompting police to transfer the two persons detained at the station to the nearby Ermita village hall, said Chief Insp. Noel Lomente, chief of the Carbon police.

Power supply was cut off along a wide area surrounding Carbon market after the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) shut off its power distribution station located two blocks away from the fire scene.

Relatado said they were still verifying the origin of the fire but fire investigators were looking into illegal wire tapping as the possible cause of the blaze.