A retired teacher was trapped in his burning residence, while 13 houses were razed in separate fire incidents in south Cebu Province.

The 70-year-old teacher was trapped inside his room where the fire reportedly started evening on April 30, 2025.

Sibonga firefighters received the alarm at 8:25 p.m. of a fire in Barangay Mangyan.

However, when they reached the area, the fire was already huge that nearly destroyed the entire structure.  

FO1 Romnick Alison, fire investigator of the Sibonga Municipal Fire Station disclosed that the room has no windows, and that the victim had difficulty in mobility.

Further, Alison said, they are looking into the possibility of an unattended lighted candle inside the victim’s room, as there was a power outage in the area on the night the incident happened.

Alison said that the fire was placed under control by 10:30 p.m.

Damages were reported to have reached approximately P1.4 million. 

Meanwhile, at least 13 houses were razed in Barangay Biasong, Talisay City also on April 30, 2025.

The fire broke out at about 5 p.m. and was raised to second alarm. It was declared under control after about an hour of firefighting.

The fire left behind damages estimated at P700,000.

According to FO2 Mar Dee Auxtero III, they investigated on an unattended hair dryer that could have possibly overheated.

The fire displaced a total of 22 families or over 80 individuals.

The Talisay City Social Welfare and Development Office attended immediately to the needs of the affected families, as of this writing.