Sambag fire displaces 270 residents, razes 33 homes

A 90-year-old woman was severely burned while 270 people were displaced by a fire that destroyed 32 houses in sitios Maharlika and Palsay in barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City at 2:42 a.m yesterday.

SFO1 Lowel Opolentisima said damage is estimated to reach P1.5 million. He said faulty wiring was the cause of yesterday’s fire.

Among those hurt in the fire was Basilisa Miral Opada, who could hardly walk when the fire broke out in the home of a certain Nelia Gelbolingo.

She said she noticed the fire at the ceiling of her home and tried to put it out to no avail.

Prior to the Sambag II fire, another fire hit Casa Rosita in Banawa, barangay Guadalupe at 2:19 a.m. yesterday. No one was hurt, Opolentisima said.

Sambag 2 barangay captain Carl Stephen Belarmino convened the barangay council and declared sitios Maharlika and Palsay under state of calamity.

The barangay released about P100,000 as calamity assistance to the victims.

Unconscious

Firefighters heard Opada’s call for help before she was knocked unconscious prompting them to barge into her house and pull her out to safety.

Opada sustained burns in 75 percent of her body including her face.

The old woman’s relatives told fire investigators that they were in a state of panic and forgot to bring her out of the house.

Barangay secretary Gina Templado said Opada was taken to the Cebu City Medical Center.

Another resident, 58-year-old Exequiel Morata, was wounded in her right finger. The fire was put out at 6:50 a.m.

The fire spread fast as  most of the houses in the sitio were made of light materials.

The narrow road also prevented firefighters from bringing in their firetrucks prompting them to make a long hose line to enable them to get near the flames.

Belarmino said the residents can still rebuild their homes because they are located in a socialized housing area of the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Personnel from the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) distributed packed meals to the victims.

Alvin Santillana, operations head of the Cebu City Risk Reduction Management Council, said the 270 displaced persons included 63 families.

Santillana said residents should be reminded to make sure they save themselves first before they even think of saving their valuables.

“Don’t wait to get your valuables because if the floor collapses, you would find it difficult to escape,” he said. Some of those displaced were students of a nearby university.

All firetrucks in Cebu City and the cities of Mandaue and Talisay responded to the alarm.

“Before the victims rebuild their homes, we would remind them how much area they can occupy to avoid decongestion,” Belarmino said.

He said they plan to widen the alley from one to three meters and the main road from five to eight meters wide. /Jhunnex Napallacan and Christine Emily L. Pantaleon, Correspondents with Correspondent Edison delos Angeles