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Woman in 80s killed in blaze
By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Nancy R. Cudis

A WOMAN believed to be in her 80s was killed in a fire that gutted her shanty near the riverside on V. Rama Ave. in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City yesterday afternoon. The woman lived alone.

The death of the woman, initially identified by investigators from the Homicide Section and the fire department as a certain “Taling,” happened three days after a 17-year-old boy with special needs died in a fire in Sitio Labis in the mountain barangay of Bonbon, Cebu City.

Homicide investigator Roger Nedamo said Taling does not have family and relatives in the area and is believed to be a native of Carcar City.

Nedamo said initial information his team gathered from neighbors indicated that Taling was suffering from arthritis and was having difficulty walking.

Taling’s body was brought to San Fernando Funeral Homes, Nedamo said.

The fire department received the call for assistance at 3:45 p.m.

About 30 minutes later, another fire occurred in the city, this time hitting two houses in the interior portion of St. Jude Acres in Barangay Inayawan. No one was reported hurt.

At 7:08 last night, another fire was reported on Juana Osmeña St. Details of the incident, however, were not yet available as of press time.

Entrance

In the Calamba incident, SFO2 Felix Romero, in an interview over radio dyAB, said they found the charred body of Taling near the area believed to be the entrance of her shanty.

Romero said the shanty was made of tarpaulin and wood donated by her neighbors.

Romero said the fire was likely caused by burned dried leaves that were blown away by the wind and landed on her shanty.

Taling’s shanty had no electricity. Her dirty kitchen was also located at the opposite side of where the fire started, Romero said.

A neighbor told Romero that prior to the incident, Taling was seen sweeping her backyard of dried leaves and setting these on fire.

The next thing the witness saw was that Taling’s house, particularly the portion near the pile of burning leaves, was already in flames.

Neighbors tried to save her house while waiting for the firefighters to arrive but strong winds fanned the fire that was fueled by the materials that made up her house.

The fire, though, failed to spread to the other houses, which were about 10 meters away from Taling’s house.

Investigators pegged the damage to property at P2,500.

Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, action officer of the City Disaster Coordinating Council, said they will try to find the relatives of Taling.

Calamba Barangay Councilor Anna Lozano said they will try to look for her relatives in Carcar City. They will also coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development on what to do.

Burial

“If no one will claim the body of the woman, it will be the responsibility of the barangay to give her a decent burial,” Lozano said.

In the Inayawan fire, the city fire department received the call for assistance at 4:18 p.m. and raised the status to a second alarm.

Five fire trucks from the fire department and the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade and Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation, which responded to the alarm, managed to contain the fire in three minutes.

Romero, during the same radio interview, said the fire destroyed two houses owned by Bienve-nido de la Victoria and Lita Delfin, who is reportedly a sister of a firefighter.

Adjacent

De la Victoria and Delfin’s houses were adjacent to each other.

Romero said the fire started at the middle of the house of de la Victoria.

Romero, however, said they are still digging deeper into what started the fire because no one was residing in de la Victoria’s house. He said de la Victoria stayed in Barangay Lahug.

The house was reportedly kept closed all the time. De la Victoria reportedly visits the house once a month, Romero said.

Romero said the damage to property was initially pegged at P450,000.

Carillo said City Hall will be “giving out food and construction materials to the fire victims in Barangay Inayawan.”

The fire in Inayawan prompted Barangay Captain Rustico Ignacio, who was in Lapu-Lapu City when the fire broke out, to send his councilors to the site to help.

“We are doing the preliminaries like giving out food before we will coordinate with the Cebu City Government on what other forms of assistance we can give,” he said in Cebuano.

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