A midday fire razed 27 houses, leaving 179 residents homeless and two people injured in Purok Magnolia, Brgy. 7, Bacolod City, on Tuesday, May 12, the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) reported.
Injured were siblings Romela Pasaporte, 34, who sustained multiple first-degree burns on her upper and lower extremities, and Romo Pasaporte, 22, who suffered first-degree burns on his left arm.
The fire originated from a light bulb in a loose socket on the second floor of a house. The bulb had been plugged into a line connected directly to a wooden post since Sunday, Bacolod Fire Marshal Jenny Mae Masip said.
The scene of the fire has been tagged as a “red zone,” where most of the houses were built of light materials in close proximity to each other, causing the fire to spread rapidly, Masip said.
Firefighters received the call at 11:20 a.m., and firetrucks arrived at the scene at 11:24 a.m. By then, 8 to 10 houses had already been destroyed, she said.
The firefighters then fought to prevent the blaze from spreading further.
Firefighters had to combat the flames from rooftops because the firetrucks could not pass through the narrow footpaths.
The fire damage was estimated at P530,000 by the Bureau of Fire Protection.
The 71 affected families are temporarily being housed at the ABES 2 Senior High School building, where the city government has delivered assistance, the DSSD reported.
The majority of the affected families were unable to save any of their belongings.*
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