DUMAGUETE CITY, (PNA) – Fire of still unknown origin destroyed two houses in an interior portion along Dr. Meciano Road in Dumaguete City on Tuesday morning.
At least two persons sustained minor injuries but received treatment immediately as firefighters from Dumaguete and nearby towns as well as fire volunteers deployed to the scene to contain the blaze from spreading to nearby houses.
Fire probers are initially looking one possible cause of the fire involving the son of one of the victims who allegedly intentionally set their house on fire.
The victims who lost their houses to the fire were identified as Jiolinda Amores, wife of the late Romeo Amores, whose 2-story boarding house was totally damaged and Leticia Amores Sun, whose house was partially damaged.
Leticia Amores Sun sustained first degree burns while Adrian Amores was also treated for some injuries.
Reynaldo Amores, the son of Jiolinda, who was missing during the fire incident, was accused by his family of setting the fire. They said he was allegedly a drug user and had also previously attempted to burn their house down, fire investigators said.
SFO2 Quintino Dumala, Jr., fire scene investigator, said the estimated damage to property could not yet be ascertained.
The city government immediately deployed its Rescue 348 team as well as its recently acquired supertanker to augment water supply to fire trucks from Dumaguete, Sibulan, Valencia, the Chinese Volunteer and other responders.
The fire was already contained within 15 minutes after they received the alarm call around 10 a.m. even as firefighters had a difficult time bringing their hoses inside the interior portion of the densely populated area.
Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria and City Administrator William Ablong also proceeded immediately to the fire scene.