Mandaue fire displaces 500

About 100 families or about 500 persons lost their homes in a fire that broke out in sitio San Lorenzo Ruiz, Jagobiao, Mandaue City before noon yesterday.

The fire alarm was tapped at 11:37 a.m. was  placed under control at 12:35 p.m. It was totally put out after  two hours.

The fire started in the  house of  Laurencia Dumalagan, whose  daughter-in-law Cecil noticed smoke coming from the upper floor.

“She smelled something burning and when she took the stairs, the fire spread to the ground floor,” said Senior Officer Arnold Lao of the Mandaue City Fire Department.

Lao said the fire spread immediately because most houses were made of light materials.

Narrow roads prevented  the entry of fire trucks.  Firemen had to connect water hoses to reach  the site.

There were no casualties. Property damage was estimated at P2 million.

Senior Fire Officer Roy Garcia said there was a nearby fire hydrant but it was fenced by a private lot owner along a pedestrian sidewalk.

Jelma Flores, a neighbor of Dumalagan, said some neighbors spotted a nine-year-old girl left inside the house.

She said they speculated that the girl may have been left to play with burning paper that somehow made contact with an LPG tank.

Flores, who was unable to save her belongings in time, worried about being able to rebuild her house.  The lot is owned by the Metro Cebu Water District, said Jagobiao barangay captain Ma. Editha Montesa.

Fire victims were sheltered at the Jagobiao National High School which suspended  classes to make room for them.

Mayor Jonas Cortes ordered the delivery of relief food to the fire victims –   100 families including 60 house owners, 40 renters and 11 sharers. The city will give  P10,000 cash aid  to each family.  Jhunnex Napallacan and Norman V. Mendoza, Correspondents with Correspondent Fe Marie Dumaboc