CDO fire leaves 120 families homeless

Fire hits a residential area in Cagayan de Oro City. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY NIKO BATALLONES

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The power outage that had plunged most of the city in total darkness on Friday evening might have caused the major fire incident that left more than 1,000 persons homeless in Sitio San Isidro Labrador in Barangay (village) Lapasan here, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said Saturday.

Chief Inspector Rommel Villafuerte, the district fire marshal for Cagayan de Oro, said the fire started at the house of one Lisa Camomot and spread throughout the neighborhood. Most of the houses in the area were made of light and highly flammable materials.

Based on account of a witness, a child was seen playing with a candle around the time the city experienced widespread power interruption, said Villafuerte.

Villafuerte said the damage from the fire, which started at about 9 p.m., was initially pegged at P5 million.

The City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) said a total of 123 families or 1,028 persons were displaced by the fire that persisted for nearly three hours.

CSWD chief Teddy Sabugaa said the survivors were now sheltered at the barangay covered court in Lapasan and that they were given relief packages containing food packs, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, personal hygiene kits, and other necessary items.

Both the BFP and the CSWD had said that no one was killed or injured during the fire. IDL

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