By: Gail T. Momblan
FIRE gutted a residence at Barangay Mat-y, Miag-ao, Iloilo, afternoon of Jan 5, 2018.
Senior Fire Officer 3 (SFO3) Reggie Simeon, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Miagao officer-in-charge, said the fire broke around 2:20 p.m. at the house owned by Nananita Najarila.
Unattended cooking stove might have caused the fire, Simeon said.
Najarilas house was located in an open portion of the barangay, thus the fire quickly gobbled the house because of the strong wind.
John Nocal, Najarilas neighbour, was first to notice the blaze.
Nocals house is located 30 to 40 meters from Najarilas while the rest are more or less 100 meters away, which prevented the fire from spreading to other houses, Simeon said.
The neighbors, however, had a hard time putting out the fire because of the houses high fence.
Fire fighters quelled the fire around 2:40 p.m..
The house was totally burned and initial report estimated the damage to property at P100,000.
Simeon reminded the residents who use firewood in cooking to always secure the kitchen before leaving.
Dapat kon galuto indi pagbayaan especially sa dirty kitchen. Bisan nabilin nga baga, patyon gid kay pwede pa ka-develop sang kalayo, he said.
