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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Friday, February 10, 2017
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Smoke rises from what’s left of the houses that an early morning fire razed in Zone I, Barangay Gustilo, La Paz, Iloilo City on Feb. 9, 2017. Quick-responding firefighters effectively put out the blaze in 30 minutes. Photo shows them in a mop-up operation. JOSELITO VILLASIS/PN
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ILOILO City – Fire struck Zone I of Barangay Gustilo, La Paz district early morning yesterday, razing five houses and a boardinghouse.
The blaze started around 5:05 a.m. from Benita Dionio’s house, according to Senior Fire Officer 3 Aquilino Sampiano of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).
The other gutted houses were those of Rizalina Jacosalem, Ramon Lacerna, Hernane Carmona, and Teresita Lopez Raymundo.
Fire investigators were yet to determine what triggered the fire as of this writing but according to Dionio in a radio interview, it started at the upper room of her house and not in her kitchen.
Her house and that of Jacosalem, and the boardinghouse of Lacerna were totally gutted. Those of Carmona and Raymundo, and another house of Lacerna sustained partial damage.
According to Fire Officer 2 Judz Romaquin, a family occupying Dionio’s house – a couple and their two children – managed to get out unharmed.
All the houses that the fire razed were made of light materials.
The BFP estimated the cost of damage at P3 million.
Lacerna’s taxi was also burned.
It took firefighters some 30 minutes to put out the blaze.
‘BE FIRE SAFETY-CONSCIOUS’
Superintendent Jerry Candido, the city fire marshal, has been urging residents to be fire safety-consciousness. The number of fire incidences in this city last year were higher than those in 2015, a consolidated report of his office showed.
There were 631 fire incidences last year – more than 2015’s 538.
Of the 631 fire cases, 93 were residential fires; two industrial or factory fires; two storage fires; 11 cases of fire at mixed type occupancy; eight fire cases in business type or government offices; two educational fires; seven miscellaneous fires; 140 grass fires; 38 rubbish fires; 303 electrical post fires; and 13 vehicular fires.
According to Candido, the electrical post fires were due to illegal connections.
“Some residents with no electric meters directly attached their lines to electric posts. As I understand, the Panay Electric Company has allotted specific loads to their consumers, so definitely, if there are illegal connections, there will be fire,” said Candido.
He urged the public to stop illegal connections and avoid using substandard electric wires.
“By increasing the public’s fire consciousness, we can lessen fire incidences in this city,” he added. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
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