New Year fire displaces 660 people

THE FIRE eating up houses of residents of Perichon District in Tacloban City, a community that has not fully recovered from the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

TACLOBAN CITY—Fire struck a community here still recovering from Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), destroying the homes of 660 people on the first day of 2016.

The fire, in Perichon District in this city, started past midnight and lasted for four hours, leaving 69 houses gutted.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but SFO2 Levino Caya, of the city’s Bureau of Fire Protection office, said “we are not ruling out the possibility that it was caused by a lighted firecracker.”

Caya quoted reports that said a wayward firecracker hit the house of Salvacion Murillo, 60.

Murillo and her daughter, Vivian, managed to get out of their two-story house, Caya said.

Joseph Solayao, a resident, said the fire was the community’s worst disaster after Yolanda.

“At least when Yolanda hit us, we were able to save some of our belongings unlike now. What we have are our clothes on our back,” said the 50-year-old father of six.

He said he was lying in bed when his son shouted that the house of their neighbor, Murillo, was on fire.

Solayao and his family got out of their house without bringing any of their belongings.

He said during Yolanda, his house suffered only minor damage. “Now, it is all gone,” he said.

Joy Capili, 36, another resident, said the pain of losing her house was made bearable by the fact that her family was safe.

“We ran out of the house. We were able to bring only our civil registry records,” said Capili, a mother of four.

The fire victims have moved in with relatives in the meantime.

Firefighters were able to put out the blaze around 3 a.m.

Firemen and fire volunteers from the nearby towns of Palo, Tanauan, Babatngon, Alangalang and Sta. Fe came to help.

Cesar Advincula, village chair, said those who lost their homes need food, kitchen tools and clothes.

Yolanda killed more than 2,000 residents of Tacloban City, when it struck Eastern Visayas carrying winds of up to 300 kilometers per hour and generating storm surges that flattened villages.