Jaro fire razes P5M worth of properties
The Iloilo City Council may declare Brgy. Ma. Cristina in Jaro district under state of calamity following the huge conflagration Sunday night that razed 25 houses (22 totally burned, 3 partially burned) and commercial establishments.
The Bureau of Fire Protection put the damage to more or less P5 million worth of properties. However, fire investigators ruled out the angle of arson in the fire incident.
Inspector Nilo Pacifico, Iloilo City Fire Station chief, said they shelved the angle of arson as most of the houses or establishments in the area were not insured.
"The probability of an arson case is very remote," Pacifico said.
As to date, fire investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire though they have already traced where the fire emanated. The fire started from the house of Pastor Ricardo Duran inside the Iloilo Baptist Church (IBC) compound.
Pacifico said based on their initial investigation, IBC's guard on duty Carl de Pedro heard a sound of sparking electrical connections after a short brown-out that hit the compound. A fire was then seen at the second floor of Duran's house. The fire immediately spread to other houses and commercial establishments.
In the same fire incident, two members of the fire department were hurt. They were FO1 Rolin Hormina and FO1 Ernesto Calanza. Hormina's right arm was fractured while Calanza incurred abrasions on his face. Aside from the two firefighters, no one was reported injured.
The fire chief also denied there were operational lapses when the firefighters responded to the fire call. The firetrucks especially from Jaro immediately went to the fire scene, he said.
Fire victims were given immediate relief assistance after the fire incident. The City Social Welfare and Development Office distributed ready-to-eat foods and clothing to the fire victims who temporarily occupied the IBC gymnasium as evacuation center.
The fire department declared the fire at the second alert level and the damages reached to millions of pesos. The fire alert level prompted the different fire stations in the nearby towns to heed the call and assist in putting off the fire.