Fire victims seek medical, food assistance as damage reach P6M
A total of 24 houses were totally damaged while ten were partially burned in Wednesday's fire that hit Barangay Jalandoni, Lapuz in La Paz district. Estimated worth of property loss was placed at P6 million in an incident that remain under investigation by arson probers.
Affected families, totaling 47, were temporarily housed in the nearby public school as food assistance and other relief goods were distributed overnight by the city's social welfare department.
However, the number of burned houses as well as the affected families are being counter checked as the figures coming from the barangay and the Iloilo City Fire Office vary.
Figures coming from the city fire bureau showed that only 24 houses were burned. Of the 24 houses, 19 were totally gutted and five were partially burned.
Last Wednesday's fire allegedly emanated from the house of Jose Bugtong. The fire allegedly started from an unattended candle. There was a power brownout during the time.
Most of the residents were unable to bring their personal belongings because the fire spread quickly. The houses were mostly made of light materials.
Fire fighters claimed that they had difficulty entering the place as houses in the area are congested.
The fire victims are temporarily housed at the Jalandoni Memorial Elementary School.
Mayor Jerry Treñas visited the victims with orders issued to department heads for the verification and validation on the official count of dislocated residents.
A day into the ‘evacuation shelters,' women victims appeal for potable water and medicines with the elderly and children in the group already showing signs of illness. And there is also sanitation problems, radio accounts disclosed with the evacuated families at a loss where to find public toilets.
Treñas said the city government would give financial assistance to the fire victims in the amount of P3,000 for those with totally burned houses and P1,000 for families whose houses are partially burned.