ILOILO CITY, Feb. 24 -- A fire of still an undetermined origin that leveled residential slum area has totally destroyed 102 houses and partially damaged three other residential structures in Sitio Sinikway, Brgy. Tabucan, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
SF02 Aquilino Sampiano of Iloilo City Bureau of Fire Protection said the fire broke out past 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon that lasted for barely two hours including tedious mopping up operation before the responding firefighters could put out the blaze.
Yesterday's blaze hampered the effort of firefighters as fire trucks could not penetrate the fire scene due to the absence of an access road.
Fire trucks from adjoining Iloilo towns likewise responded to the city's fire call to augment city based firetrucks along with volunteer firefighters from Filipino-Chinese community that also joined the fray.
Iloilo City Fire Marshall C/Insp. Jerry Berte said most of houses were made of light materials that further stoke the raging fire aggravated by the strong winds in the area which contribute to its rapid spread.
Firefighters need to have their water hoses interconnected to as far as 100 meters starting from the main road via the river dike that serve as pathway and improvised bamboo bridge to reach the area before they could be able to extinguish yesterday's early afternoon fire.
Narrow pathway and array of adjoining houses also constrict easy access for onrushing firemen to battle the blaze.
A 20-year-old Aljun Mendoza sustained minor injury on his left foot as an aftermath of the stampede.
Last night, hundreds of affected families had to pass the night at the barangay gymnasium and Tabucan Elementary School in the barangay as their temporary evacuation center where they availed of emergency relief assistance to be extended by the city's social welfare and development office.
Meanwhile, SFO2 Norman Valenzuela, who led a team of arson investigators, said though they have initial information that the fire started from the house owned by Dante Velez alias Nono, still they are thoroughly investigating the case to establish the cause of the fire that left hundred of families homeless.
Fire probers has yet to determine the damage to property wrought by yesterday's fire. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Philippines News Agency. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at [email protected]
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