ILOILO City – A 29-year-old woman died of suffocation from the smoke of a fire that struck a two-storey house before dawn yesterday at Sta. Rosa Subdivision, Barangay Tagbak, Jaro district.
This was the fourth fire to hit the city in two days. On Tuesday fire struck the districts of La Paz, Arevalo and the City Proper.
Domi Rose Duran died at the Iloilo Metro Hospital and Medical Center.
According to Fire Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, director of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Western Visayas, a fire call was received at 1:43 a.m.
It took firefighters 10 minutes to enter the house because all its windows had iron grills, said Candido.
“Gin lagare pa namon para makasulod,” he revealed.
Firefighters managed get out of the house Duran, her one-year-old daughter and her 61-year-old mother Rosemarie.
The daughter and Rosemarie were okay but Duran already lost consciousness.
From what the BFP so far gathered, the fire started in the ground floor of the house.
“Tungod indi na ka ginhawa sang aso,” Candido said.
The fire damage reached P971,100, according to BFP.
On Tuesday morning, fire struck La Paz, Arevalo and the City Proper – a week before the Fire Prevention Month of March commences.
The first fire was in Barangay Burgos-Mabini, La Paz district. The two-storey house of Eugene Rezano, 53, was gutted at around 8:30 a.m.
The fire reportedly started behind a room on the ground floor.
According to Rezano, he was in their living room when he saw smoke then later the fire.
Property damage reached over P1 million.
At about the same time, fire also struck Fatima Subdivision in Barangay Sta Cruz, Arevalo. A house was totally burned, including a Toyota Fortuner.
The house was owned by Godofredo Defensor, 67.
The fire may have started from an unattended stove, initial investigation of the BFP showed.
The house and the owner’s sport utility vehicle were totally razed.
Estimated of the damage reached over P2 million.
The third fire struck at around 12:30 p.m. in Barangay General Hughes, City Proper. Ten houses house were totally destroyed and six others were partially damaged.
The blaze started in the house of Alfredo Alvarez and quickly spread to neighbors’ houses.
“Dapat gid naton i-check ang electrical connections kag avoid using substandard wires. Ang mga daan nga koryente islan na ina kay usually amo ina ang ginahalinan sang sunog,” said BFP regional director Fire Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido./PN
