NOT a few residents of barangay Tejero were surprisingly calm when a fire broke out inside the Cantillas compound in their area at 1 p.m. yesterday.
After all, they reasoned, it was the third fire that hit their area this year and there were no casualties.
That wasn’t the case with 18-year-old Jeanette Cantillas, a hotel and restaurant management student of Cebu Technological University (CTU).
She sobbed and watched helplessly as the fire ate up her house.
“I don’t know if I would still be able to enroll next semester when all my requirements were reduced to ashes,” she sobbed.
Fire investigators said they suspect that the blaze originated at the home of Alberto Lajaylajay.
Josephine Geminio, the 33-year-old sister of Lajaylajay, said they were just at the ground floor of the house when they heard crackling sounds upstairs.
“There were kids playing upstairs before the incident but they said they didn’t play with any wiring or appliances,” she said.
“I know Christmas is coming but I’m sure we could get by. We will survive this,” Geminio said.
Alberto Lajaylajay said faulty wiring may have caused the fire.
“We lived here since 1976 and this is the first time that we experienced this,” he said.
Some nearby residents stood by and appeared bored as they watched the fire outbreak.
“The first huge fire that hit us with a fire was because of a an exploding gas tank. The second one was because of a fire from Carreta that crawled towards our barangay and this rather small one supposedly caused by a faulty wiring,” said barangay councilor Garry Lao.
He said the city government had yet to complete the reblocking works in the area when the third fire broke out.
About five houses were burned down while three were partially damaged inside the Cantilles compound.
Cebu City Fire Marshall Aderson Comar said they are considering the possibility that the fire was caused by substandard electrical fixtures.
“With the Christmas season coming, we ask our brothers and sisters to please be careful in buying Christmas decors,” he said.
The fire alarm was received by the Cebu City Fire Department a few minutes after the fire broke out. The blaze was put out within 15 minutes.