Father, 2 kids hurt in Cebu fire; 70 homeless

A father and his two children were injured, while at least 70 other residents lost their homes after a dawn fire hit Sitio Panagsama in Basak-San Nicolas village in Cebu City Friday. Sun-Star Cebu (www.sunstar.com.ph) reported Saturday that the victims who suffered first-degree burns were identified as Edmund Apyag and children Christine May, 11, and Charlie, 8. It said Edmund's back was injured while the two children sustained burns in their arms after they jumped out of the window to escape their burning house. But Edmund’s wife Maricel, 33, and their two other children, Violet, 3, and Jessie, 6, escaped from their burning house unscathed. Friday’s fire was the eighth major blaze in the city, two days after 17 maritime students also suffered burn injuries in a fire on Alumnus St., Sitio Kulbita, Barangay Mambaling. The Cebu City fire department received the call for assistance at 2:55 a.m. The blaze was immediately raised to third alarm considering that the area was highly populated. It gutted 40 houses by the time it was declared under control 20 minutes later. SFO2 Felix Romero, the fire investigator assigned to the incident, estimated the damage to property at P800,000. He said an electrical short circuit likely sparked the fire. Maricel said the fire started at the lower level of their house, which was used as a woodcraft shop. The Apyag family was staying on the second level. She said they do not know what triggered the fire because they were asleep when it broke out. “When we woke up, the flames were already at our feet," Maricel said. She said they could no longer pass through the door because the fire already razed it. She said she and husband Edmund decided to go out through the window. Maricel jumped out of the window first. Her younger brother Jason, 21, followed suit. Edmund then tossed the children outside the window for Jason to catch below. Flames, however, burned the arms of the two children before they escaped. Maricel’s family and the rest of the victims are temporarily staying in a basketball court near the fire scene. Tents were provided for them. Firefighters said they had a problem going through the narrow road to reach the fire scene. The Cebu City fire department and members of the Filipino-Chinese Fire Brigade and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation attached all their hoses to reach the area.-GMANews.TV