Fire destroys Pasil house

A fire razed a house and gutted seven others yesterday afternoon in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City. No one was reported hurt or killed in the incident while damage was estimated at P200,000.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Malangel Yburan, fire investigator of San Nicolas sub-station, said that a man on a motorcycle drove to their station to report that a house near the Missionaries of the Poor was on fire around 5:35 p.m. yesterday.

"Naay niari, nag-motor, ni-respond mi largo, residential, naa sa'y involved nga Missionaries of Charity, partial," Yburan said.

However, the Cebu City Fire Station only received the fire alarm at 5:45 p.m. yesterday and sent all of its units to the fire scene at once. Cebu City fire volunteers also scrambled to respond to the alarm.

The duty investigator declared the fire under control at exactly 6:00 p.m. and fire out at 6:30 p.m. Since the area was densely populated area, firefighters made sure to conduct overhauling operations; making sure embers would not reignite to cause another fire.

He said that the fire started at the house of a certain Jonathan Bacalde, whose family is grieving the recent loss of a family member. He said nobody was in the house when the fire started and they believe that it was caused by electrical misuse.

"Kana ilang Jonathan wala'y tawo kay namatyan, ilang gibiyaan. Ang kuan sa mga tawo naa'y wire nagtanday sa flooring naa'y nagpanday, wa mabantayi, ni-spark," Yburan said.

He added that the fire spread to the neighboring houses including a building of the Missionaries of Charity but only razed one house.

"Walo ka balay, usa ang totally burned... Electrical short circuit ang cause nagsugod sa ilang Jonathan Bacalde mao ray totally burned, the rest partial ra," he added.

He said that although the place is a congested residential area, the fire did not spread further because of several firewalls.

He also reported they had difficulty reaching the place because vehicles were parked in the narrow road leading to the area.

"Kasagaran man gud naa'y firewall sa pikas. Naglisod sa pagsulod kay gamay ang agianan, tungod sad sa sakyanan nag-parking diha g'yud sa corner. Dugay mi nakaliko, kay naa'y ga-parking nga multicab," he said.