By Jennifer P. Rendon
Two fire incidents hit Lapuz district in Iloilo City within two hours while in the middle of the observation of the Fire Prevention Month in March.
The blazes reduced several houses into ashes and left scores of families homeless.
The first incident was reported to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Iloilo City around 12:05 p.m. on March 17, 2023.
The conflagration struck Calle 3 at Barangay Jalandoni Estate. The fire was put out at 12:47 p.m.
At least 16 fire trucks, a rescue truck, and three ambulances responded to the scene.
BFP records indicated that 11 houses were destroyed while 12 were damaged. At least 33 families were affected.
The fire allegedly originated from the house of a certain Amalia Vicente.
No casualty was reported but a 16-year-old girl fell unconscious.
Fire Chief Superintendent Jerry Candido, BFP-6 regional director, said that a child playing with matchsticks allegedly caused the fire.
The estimated damage was pegged at P1.34 million.
At around 8:57 a.m. of the following day, another structural fire incident happened at Rizal, Lapuz Sur.
The fire totally gobbled six houses and damaged two others before it was put out at 9:22 a.m.
At least four families were affected but BFP said investigation and validation are still ongoing.
Five persons suffered non-threatening injuries.
Dinolo Fernandez, 55, was injured due to a dog bite while Bonita Balgos, 59, suffered a puncture wound on her right foot.
On the other hand, Banessa Balgos, 24, and a 13-year-old girl complained of difficulty of breathing while Ilyn Gagne, 57, suffered first-degree burns.
The fire reportedly originated from the house of a certain Zapero Durban.
Candido said that the cause of the fire was electrical in nature.
The damage to property was pegged at P1.359 million
Further, a late morning grass fire was also reported at Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz on March 19.
It was theorized that kids looking for scrap materials started the fire.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Mayor Jerry Treñas has called on MORE Power, Iloilo City’s electric distribution utility, the City Engineers Office, and the Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office (ICUPAO) to look for solutions for areas where there are informal settlers so that proper electric connections can be given to less privileged constituents in the meantime.
Treñas made the statement as he deemed that illegal electrical connections are mostly the cause of fires in areas of informal settlers.
“A legal electric connection is the only way to avoid frequent occurrences of fire in our communities,” Treñas said.
