By Jennifer P. Rendon
Two sisters died when a fire razed their house in Dumangas, Iloilo early morning of Sept 12, 2022.
Eden Mae Guilaran, 21, and Renalie Hortinela, 15, got trapped inside their room when the fire broke out around 2:20 a.m. Monday.
Their adoptive parents, Rojo and Analie Hortinela, survived the fire.
Eden Mae and Renalie were both born to the same parents but it was only the latter who carried their parents’ surname. Their biological mother is reportedly related to Analie.
They have another brother, 22-year-old Emmanuel Guillaran, who stays with their grandfather in Jaro, Iloilo City.
According to Fire Senior Inspector Roberto Tamayo, Jr., Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Dumangas Station chief, Rojo and Analie were sleeping in an adjacent room when the fire broke out.
Rojo told fire investigators that he attempted to put out the fire and went to the girls’ bedroom.
But he, too, got suffocated and failed to penetrate the area.
A footage from neighbor’s CCTV camera showed that fire quickly engulfed the single-storey structure, which was made of light materials.
“We saw smoke billowing out and about a minute later, there was already spark and flame,” he said.
BFP-Dumangas received the call for help around 2:31 a.m. and it was quelled at 4:35 a.m.
Based on the initial investigation, the fire could have originated from the victims’ room and quickly gobbled the rest of the house.
It also spread to the adjacent house owned by Rojo’s brother, Raween Hortinela.
Raween and his family survived the fire but their house was also totally razed.
“The most plausible reason for the cause of fire is electrical in nature,” Tamayo said.
Structural damage was pegged at P3.9 million.
