Fire struck three houses in two separate incidents in Iloilo and Antique. 

A house was razed to the ground in Barangay Wari-wari, New Lucena, Iloilo evening on February 6, 2026. In a video, the fire was seen to have quickly engulfed a house made of mixed materials. 

The house was owned by a certain Penit family. The blaze also destroyed a tricycle that the family owns.

“Pati cellphone nga sa harapan ko kasi nanonood kami ng TV, hindi ko nakuha kasi nagulat akong biglang lumaki ang apoy,” Reynante Penit, the houseowner, said.

He said that they were preparing for a birthday party of a relative prior to the incident.

When they entered the house to rest, they saw flames.

“Minadali kong patayin ang main switch at lumabas. Ang apoy lumaki na, ang bilis,” Reynante added.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) pinpointed that faulty electrical connection caused the fire.

“Ang outlet na naiwan, may traces siyang pinaniniwalaan naming arcing. Which is nangyayari siya kung may loose connection na nag-corroborate rin sa statement ng may-ari na ang saksakan (socket) lumuluwag na talaga,” said FO2 Jhon Verano, chief of the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of BFP New Lucena.

Damage was estimated to have reached over P100,000.

In Antique, a fire gutted a house and damaged another in Barangay La Paz, Hamtic past 2 a.m. on February 9.

Based on the record of Hamtic Fire Station, the houses were owned by a certain Panaguiton family and a certain Vegafria family, respectively.

As the first house was reportedly made of light materials, the fire spread quickly to the adjacent house.  

Investigation on the cause of the incident is ongoing, as of this writing.