1 dead as 4 fires rage in Cebu province

FIREMEN train their hoses on a fire raging in Barangay San Roque in Cebu City, just one of at least four fires that raged in Cebu province in less than 24 hours. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—Four fires raged in less than 24 hours, destroying 100 houses, a row of commercial establishments and a warehouse in the cities of Mandaue and Cebu and killing an elderly in Sibonga town, southern Cebu.

The lone fatality, Wellington Lopez, 83, was sleeping around 10 p.m. on Thursday when an unattended candle triggered a fire in his house in Barangay Candaguit, Sibonga town, about 50 km south of here.

At noon on Friday, a row of commercial establishments in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City was destroyed in a fire caused by faulty electrical wiring.

Destroyed were a hardware store, a refilling shop for butane gas, a junk shop and a three-story apartment.

Firefighters in this city had to pull out at 1:19 p.m. after receiving another fire alarm, this time in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City.

Three hours later, another fire broke out on the third floor of a house in Sitio Palma, Barangay San Roque in Cebu City.

The fire quickly spread to neighboring houses made of light materials, displacing at least 300 families. With a report from Chito Aragon, Inquirer Visayas