Elderly killed in Cebu fire

CEBU CITY — An elderly woman was killed in a fire that destroyed her home in Mandaue City early morning on Wednesday.

Maria Pino, 79, a widow, was alone when the fire engulfed her house at Purok 3, Barangay (village) Cubacub, Mandaue about 12:45 a.m., said Senior Fire Officer 1 Cipriano Codilla Jr., investigator of the Mandaue City Fire department.

Her son, Lumer 43 and his family lived in a house beside Pino’s. But Lumer told Codilla that by the time they woke up, the fire had engulfed his mother’s house.

Codilla said Lumer believed that Maria may have been fast asleep because they didn’t hear any scream that may have alerted them that the house was on fire.

Codilla said the fire may have been caused by an unattended kerosene lamp which Maria used to light her house.

He said Lumer told them that his mother didn’t like using electrity because she didn’t like the glare.

Codilla said the kerosene lamp might have been knocked down, triggering the fire which easily destroyed the house because it was made of bamboos and other light materials.

The fire didn’t spread to other houses because the neighbors were able to put out it immediately.