Mindanaotoday.com | Fire razes 100 houses in Oro
By: Franck Dick Rosete and Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – About 100 houses were destroyed, with an estimated structural damage of more or less P1.8 million after a fire struck Sitio San Isidro Labrador, Barangay Lapasan here Tuesday morning, May 31.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Senior Fire Officer 3 Rolando Aque, the station commander of Lapasan Fire Station of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), said more houses were affected as all of the dwellings are made of light materials and the area is situated near in the coastal.
“There were many houses affected because all of their houses were made of light materials and each house was connected. In addition, it is a coastal area so there are strong winds which may be the reason for the easy spread of the fire,” Aque said in vernacular.
“The pathways are only for human size and the fire started on the center of the fire site and we were unable to position our firetrucks. Therefore, we did hose laying so that we can prevent the fire from spreading,” Aque said.
According to BFP’s initial investigation, the fire started at the second floor of the residence of a certain Virginia Laga.
As to the cause of the fire, the BFP is still conducting further investigation. However, they are looking at the possible involvement of faulty electrical wiring.
“According to her [Virginia Laga], the fire allegedly started on the second floor of her house and she saw electricity flashing on the wire. That was her version. However, as of now, the investigation is still ongoing,” he said.
The City Fire District here received the fire call around 6 o’clock in the morning and escalated the fire incident to 3rd alarm at 6:13 in the morning.
Senior Fire Officer 4 Samson Velarde, Cagayan de Oro Fire Station spokesperson, said the fire was declared under control at 7:10 a.m.
A certain Ronilo Labadan sustained lacerations on his right foot and needed treatment.
Despite the number of houses affected by the fire incident, Aque said they were able to declare fire under control at 7:10 in the morning and declare fire out at 9:18 AM, with the help of the residents.
Aque confirmed that no death was reported in the fire incident.
However, he said, a certain Ronilo Labadan of legal age sustained wounds in his right foot after he helped his neighbors evacuate their belongings.
Rev. Jeoffrey Baconga, the administrator of Barangay Lapasan, said the affected families were evacuated at the covered court in Sitio Lapas Uno in the said barangay.
As of this writing, barangay personnel are still profiling the survivors to determine the number of families and individuals affected in the fire incident.
As of 11 o’clock in the morning. the Lapasan has already tallied 138 affected families (consist of 436 individuals), of which 15 of those families (consist of 56 individuals) were from the portion of Barangay Puntod.
In his Facebook page, Barangay Lapasan chairperson Julito Ogsimer called for help for the fire victims.
“San Isidro Labrador has been awakened by a huge fire that affects hundreds of houses. I am your chairman, asking the people, government agencies and all the people with a good heart for your assistance to help the victims,” said in his facebook post.
###