3 houses gutted in 2 Cebu City fires

Two fires hit Cebu City yesterday that gutted three houses including a newly-built one.

No one was injured in the two fires.

The first fire occurred at 10:42 a.m. at Villa Remedios, barangay Kalunasan.

Initial investigation conducted by SFO2 Daniel Relatado Jr. revealed that the fire started at the second floor of the house owned by one Lorenzo Fernandez.

The house of Lorenzo’s 22-year-old son, Jeffrey, which was only built last year after his wedding was also gutted by the fire.

Fernandez, 54, said he was watching a movie downstairs when he noticed that the room of his son, Louie, was on fire.

He said an unplugged or overcharged laptop or cellphone might have caused the fire.

The fire was put under control after seven minutes.

Damage was pegged at P50,000.

Relatado said they had a hard time reaching the fire scene because of the narrow road and the barbed wires surrounding the house.

In Tejero fire, a two-story house owned by Prima Cantillas was also gutted by a fire that broke out at 4 p.m. yesterday.

It started in the room rented by Juanito Estorial at the second floor.

Firemen put out the blaze in 15 minutes.

Cantilla’s house was just two houses away from the Tejero Barangay Complex.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella visited the fire scene./CORRESPONDENTS CHITO O. ARAGON AND CHRISTINE EMILY L. PANTALEON