BACOLOD City – At least 216 houses were affected in a three-hour fire that broke out at Purok Cheriza, Barangay 27 in this city early Friday morning, September 12.
City Fire Marshal Supt. Jenny Mae Masip said they received the fire alarm at 12:09 a.m. A “fire out” was declared at around 3:10 a.m.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Bacolod City, when the first fire truck from the Libertad Fire Station arrived, almost 10 houses were already engulfed in flames.
The fire caused an estimated P4.5 million in damages, as most of the structures were made of light materials. Masip reported that 180 houses were destroyed and 36 others damaged.
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, records from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) showed 212 families, or 855 individuals, were staying at the temporary evacuation site in Apolinario Mabini Elementary School.
Mayor Greg Gasataya, who immediately visited the scene, assured victims of the city’s support.
“It pains us to see our people like this and we will do everything we can to ease their burden and help them hold on to hope, even just a bit,” he said.
The city’s Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) and the CDRRMO distributed food packs, hygiene kits, and sleeping kits to displaced families.
Meanwhile, the Carlos Hilado Memorial State University (CHMSU) launched a donation drive to aid affected residents. Through its CHMSUyanihan: Pagtabang sa Nasunugan initiative, the university is accepting in-kind and cash donations at its Alijis, Binalbagan, Fortune Towne, and Talisay campuses until September 19.
Meanwhile, gust minutes before the Barangay 27 fire, at 11:34 p.m. on September 11, the BFP-Bacolod City also responded to a fire in Barangay Granada, where a house was destroyed. The blaze was declared out at 11:59 p.m./PN
