Friday

P10M fire burns 60 homes in downtown

A TOTAL of 77 families were rendered homeless by a conflagration that swept a residential area in Dist. 4, downtown this city last Aug. 10. SFO1 Roel V. Wenceslao, chief of the Intelligence and Investigation Division of Ormoc Fire Department said an old secondary electrical wire that sparked caused the fire.

The first to catch fire was the house of Dominador Cabibi which was near the post where the wire hung. The flames quickly spread on the third floor of the house made of plywood. Fire trucks from as far as Brgy. Tongonan and the towns of Albuera, Kananga, Isabel and Baybay City responded.

However, the only access to the burning neighborhood is through the Anilao riverwalk wherein fire trucks had difficulty gaining entry because of the crowd that milled the area. The fire spread quickly because the houses were located near each other that most residents were caught flatfooted and were able to save only a few belongings.

The fire was placed under control at 11:00 pm and by 2:30 am a fire out was declared. Cost of destruction is placed at P10 million. Barangay Captain Josela Dumaguit came up with a list of structures burned consisting of 60 houses occupied by 77 families or 295 individuals.

The victims turned down the offer made by the City Social Welfare and Development Office to seek shelter at the covered court in Brgy. Cogon 1.75 kms. away because of the distance. The next night some of them put up tents on their burnt houses while the others sought refuge at an abandoned house in nearby Juan Luna St. owned by Boy Tan.
(West Leyte Weekly Express issue of Aug. 6-12, 2012)

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