ILOILO City – Fire struck four houses at Project 3, Block 1, Barangay Sooc, Arevalo district a little past midnight yesterday, killing a 64-year-old mother and her 24-year-old daughter.
After the fire was put out, firemen recovered the bodies of Elnora Lariosa and daughter Alysa inside the toilet.
Two members of the Lariosa family survived but were injured – Elnora’s son Jude Christian, 18, and granddaughter Trixie, 14. They were taken to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district.
The Iloilo City Fire Station received a fire call at around 12:11 a.m.
“We were sleeping already at the second floor of the house when the fire struck. We all panicked. It was dark and the smoke was thick,” recounted Jude Christian.
He and Trixie managed to get out by jumping from the second floor window of the burning house.
“We wound have wanted to pass through the main door on the ground floor but the fire was getting bigger and the heat was becoming intense,” said Jude Christian.
According to Senior Fire Officer 1 Rollin Hermina, fire and arson investigator of the Iloilo City Fire Station, the blaze originated from the ceiling between the living room and kitchen of the house’s ground floor.
She believed Elnora and Alysa sought refuge in the toilet hoping that water there could save them after failing to get out of the house.
As of this writing, investigation was still ongoing but Hermina said the fire could be “electrical in nature.”
Jude Christian claimed he saw the circuit breaker spark.
“Rainwater may have seeped through the roof and reached the circuit breaker,” he theorized.
The Lariosa house and that of neighbor Alquin Vicencio were totally gutted. Two others owned by Aida Huervana and Helen Cantara sustained partial damage.
The four houses were made of mixed materials (concrete, wood and other light materials).
A total of 23 individuals from seven families were displaced, according to the fire bureau, and the property damage reached around P200 thousand.
Firefighters declared a “fire out” around 1:19 a.m.
According to Hermina, firefighters had difficulty reaching the fire scene. The road was narrow.
Dangling electrical wires and parked vehicles were additional challenges, according to the fire official.
“Medyo hinay-hinay man kami para ma-limit ang damage to properties samtang ga-respond kami,” said Hermina said.
Barangay Captain Ricardo Tugado of Sooc acknowledged the problem.
“We have long been telling tricycle drivers not to park by the roadside but they’re not listening,” he said.
The barangay council may come up with an ordinance towing vehicles that obstruct barangay roads, said Tugado.
Meanwhile, Jude Christian made a public appeal.
“Please help us. We lost everything to the fire,” he said.
The city government released a sack of rice, canned goods and water to all the displaced families./PN
