ILOILO City – A pre-dawn fire razed three houses and two commercial establishments in Zone 2, Barangay Balantang, Jaro district early yesterday morning, May 31.
According to Fire Officer 1 Joffrey Alsado of the Iloilo City Fire Station, the blaze broke out at around 5:36 a.m. Initial investigations revealed that the fire originated from the house of the Solmayor family.
Authorities said the flames quickly spread to two neighboring houses, which also housed a barber shop and an ice cream shop, completely destroying the structures.
Residents were unable to salvage their belongings due to the rapid spread of the fire. In a tragic turn, seven pet cats belonging to the Nastor family — owner of the affected barber shop — perished in the incident.
Mary Jane Nastor, in a K5 News FM Iloilo interview, became emotional as she recounted the terrifying moments her family lost both their home and livelihood.
She said she, her husband and their two children were still fast asleep when they were jolted awake by shouts of “fire” from their neighbors.
Nastor added that they tried to use a fire extinguisher but the flames were just too massive.
Firefighters declared a “fire out” at 6:25 a.m.
Authorities estimate the total property damage at P273,000. As of this writing, the Iloilo City Fire Station was still conducting a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire./PN
