Arson eyed in fire that hit 5 Cebu classrooms

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Fire authorities were looking at arson as the cause of the fire that broke out in five classrooms of two public schools in Dumanjug town, about 74.3 kilometers from here.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Elmer Tarega, Dumanjug fire investigator, said it seemed peculiar the fire broke out almost simultaneously from five classrooms of Dumanjug National High School and Dumanjug Central School, in Barangay Liong, Dumanjug town, about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The fire started from the curtains of the classrooms, he added.

The fires were not able to spread because these were put out by the residents, using the school’s water supply, he added. But 50 books were damaged.

Affected were the Grade 7 classroom of the Dumanjug National High School and four classrooms at the Dumanjug Central School— two classrooms for Grade 2 and one each for Grade 3 and Grade 4.

The Dumanjug Central School is located at the back of the Dumanjug National High School. The two schools were separated by perimeter fence.

Tarega said the affected rooms of the central school were located several meters away from the Grade 7 classroom of the high school building.

He added the affected classrooms for the elementary school are located in separate buildings.

“It’s very hard to make a conclusion because no one witnessed how the fire started but we are checking on the possibility that it was a case of arson,” Tarega said in Cebuano. TVJ

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