DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 December)—Just two days after Christmas, residents of Barangay Leon Garcia here were awakened by a huge fire that razed around 350 houses early morning Wednesday.
According to Fire Officer 2 Rafael Joshua Neri from the Davao Central Fire Station, the fire originated from the second floor of Ron Ron Sarabia’s residence around 1:10 a.m.
Neri added that it took about six hours, at 7:10 a.m., before it was completely declared as fire-out, despite reaching the second alarm.
The damage caused by the fire reached P1.1 million. The fire investigator said that an electrical ignition caused by an overheated appliance prompted the fire to break out.
Included among the burned houses are those from Purok San Vicente, Purok San Roque, and Purok Santo Niño.
“At present, we cannot provide an exact estimate of the total number of affected families, but one whole purok, which is Purok San Vicente, has been severely impacted, with approximately 350 houses burned. Most of the houses in the area are made of light materials,” Lita Empis, barangay captain of Leon Garcia, said in a radio interview.
Most of the displaced families have been evacuated to Congressman Manuel M. Garcia Elementary School.
Mobile kitchens were also in place at the evacuation center, headed by the city’s City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) and the City Mayor’s Office.
No casualties or injured person was reported in the said incident. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)