Four houses in Barangay Sirang Lupa and three mausoleums at the Batangas City Catholic Cemetery were razed by fire in separate incidents in Batangas City.

Two houses were damaged partially while two were destroyed in Barangay Sirang Lupa.

“Wala — wala akong ma-[gawa] eh dahil masakit. Kumbaga eh sa loob ko eh, walang magagawa at sunog 'yan, [ang] mahalaga eh ako'y ligtas,” Emeterio Godoy, one of the affected residents, said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Damage to the fire was pegged at around P180,000.

“Nagkakalap pa po kami ng impormasyon. Nagsimula daw po ang sunog sa bahay ni Robelle De Torres hanggang sa umabot sa apat na bahay,” FO1 R.Jay Escartin, Fire Arson Investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Batangas City, said.

Escartin reminded residents:

“Lalo na sa ating mga bahay, dapat po ay huwag iiwanan na yung ating mga niluluto, [at] lagi nating isasarado 'yung LPG tanks. Secondly [are] electrical wirings, huwag po nating iiwanang nakasaksak dahil may tendency na sa init ng panahon uminit din ang extension cords,” he said.

Meanwhile, a fire hit three mausoleums at the Batangas City Catholic Cemetery. 

Seven niches were also affected by the blaze.

Leonardo Concepcion, the cemetery caretaker, believes that candles may have caused the fire. 

“Tirikan ng kandila 'yan eh, nakabukas naman yan [at] hindi naman pinapadlock… tuyong-tuyo na [rin] ang kisame,” Concepcion said.

The two fires were contained in less than an hour.