20150509 Philippine Fires raze 33 houses in Cebu
Philippines May 09 2015 “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 30 to 69 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fires raze 33 houses in Cebu
Updated: 2015-05-10-12:00
At least 23 houses and 28 families were affected by a fire that hit Barangay Cogon Pardo, Cebu City early morning yesterday.
At least 23 houses were razed by an early morning fire in Cebu City while 10 other houses burned to the ground in another incident in Lapu-Lapu City yesterday afternoon.
Authorities said the houses affected were made of light materials.
Firefighters in Cebu City received the alarm 10 minutes past 6 a.m. and were able to control the fire 17 minutes later.
Cebu City Fire Marshall Rogelio Bongabong Jr. said the fire may have been caused by a defective air conditioning unit at the house of a certain Jun-Jun Paler but the information needed to be verified.
Bongabong said response was smooth because access to Sitio Laguna 2 in Barangay Cogon-Pardo was easy and the water pressure was stable, but the structures were made of light materials, which made the fire spread quickly.
Kenneth Ranque, a worker at the Church of Praise, which was also affected, said participants of the Summer Youth Camp were saying their early morning prayer when they heard shouts from the houses nearby.
“Naay nitawag nga naay sunog. Paggawas namo sa gawas sa among paril, naay sunog nag-start sa gawas gyud sa amoang church,” Ranque said.
The participants of the camp, at least 30 of them, immediately ran for safety, sa-ving whatever they could from the church.
“Kami ra nagtinabangay mi tanan, among gialsa-alasa og maayo,” one participant said.
Despite the devastation, Ranque is optimistic that God has better plans for the Church. “Wala pa mi kahibaw unsay plano sa Ginoo sa amoa,” he said.
Barangay Cogon Pardo Captain Harry Eran said the barangay’s priority is the evacuation of the affected families – at least 28 of them with 160 individuals.
He said the barangay will extend financial assistance to the families especially that the lot where their houses stood is owned privately.
He said he will convene the barangay council so that a state of calamity can be declared to disburse the calamity fund immediately. Some of the occupants have reportedly bought their lands but others have outstanding balance.
Damage was pegged at P200,000.
Web Source: Philstar
http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2015/05/10/1453211/fires-raze-33-houses-cebu-lapu-lapu-cities