By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – A man and a woman were wounded after a fire broke out and gutted six houses at Purok Kagaykay, Barangay 2 here Friday.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) identified the victims as Magdalena Pigo Patioca, 47; and Romeo Buenconcejo, 53.
Chief Inspector Rodel Legaspi, city fire marshal, said the fire destroyed five houses and damaged another.
Legaspi said the blaze originated from the second floor of Patioca’s two-storey house which was mostly made of light materials around 2:45 a.m.
“Gakatulog siya sang may nabati-an siya na ga lagpok, gali kay nagakalayo na ang balay niya,” Legaspi said.
This prompted Patioca to run downstairs and leave her burning house, causing her minor burns on both hands, Legaspi said.
Buenconcejo, on the other hand, suffered a laceration in her forehead while on his way out of his house, Legaspi said.
Legaspi said they are looking into electrical as causes of the fire, adding that a downpour occurred during the incident.
The BFP declared the fire out around 3:23 a.m. The blaze gobbled an estimated P300,000 worth of properties.
Meanwhile, a fire also hit the mayor’s office in Isabela, Negros Occidental last Thursday, leaving an estimated P100,000 in damages.
However, the offices were already closed when the fire occurred, so no one was injured.
The BFP is looking into electrical as possible cause of the fire which emanated from a faulty wiring from the ceiling of the said office which could have sparked due to the power surge following an outage.
