Investigators probe illegal drug den over blaze in Lapu-Lapu city

Arson investigators are looking into reports that an abandoned house being used as an illegal- drug den could have caused the blaze that gutted at least 38 houses in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City yesterday morning, Manila Times reported. Senior Fire Officer 2 Climaco Salisid, of the Lapu-Lapu City Fire Department, said they received the alarm at about 9:30am and it was soon raised to a third alarm. The fire was declared out at about 10:55am. Salisid said the fire originated from the abandoned house of Rizza Moises, located at the seaside in Sitio Kitchen, and it spread to the adjacent houses mostly made from light materials in Sitio Paradise. The blaze happened eight months after a huge fire hit Sitio New Paradise on March 16 that gutted 353 houses and killed two young children, aged one and three. “We are looking into illegal drugs because according to witnesses, the abandoned house (of Moises) served as a drug den but this needs to be validated,” Salisid told Manila Times. He added that residents in the area are possibly illegal settlers because they lived near the sea and had no permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Estimated damage was placed at P160,000. No one was reported hurt or injured. On March 20, a fire also razed at least 270 houses and displaced 2,500 people in Sitio Santo Niño in Barangay Basak. It was the second biggest reported by the Lapu-Lapu City Fire Department.