A house owned by a retired police officer in Tagbilaran City on Sunday was partially damaged by a fire, the second to hit a residential area in the city in less than three weeks.
The blaze which broke out at around 2 p.m. left P150,000 in damages to the house of former policeman Maximo Estomata, said SFO1 Victor Blancas of the Tagbilaran City Fire Station.
Initial investigation indicated that the fire started due to an unattended barbeque grill at the dirty kitchen of the Estomata residence in Barangay Tiptip.
“Cause of fire kay gasugba man gud kuno tong iyang anak [Estomata], ‘nya kana bitawng mga uling, mga aligato na mo saka ‘nya didto mi-tugdon sa sanipa sa atop,” said Blancas.
The Estomatas told fire authorities that they were unable to immediately call for emergency assistance due to weak cellular phone signal in their village.
Firefighters of the Ubujan Fire Substation who were stationed near the burning house nonetheless reached the area less than five minutes after being alerted.
Blancas said that authorities declared the blaze fire out less than an hour after receiving the alarm at 2 p.m.
No one was injured during the incident but the fire partially gutted the Estomata’s concrete house.
“Mura’g mga 60 percent g’yud ang na-damage sa ilang bay,” said Blancas.
On February 20, a fire erupted at a heavily populated area in Barangay Booy, Tagbilaran City.
The blaze displaced around 120 individuals. (A. Doydora)