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CEBU CITY, Philippines - A fire allegedly started by children playing with matches ate up 100 houses in Sitio (district) Lupa, Barangay (village) San Nicolas on Tuesday afternoon.
A combination of narrow roads and the houses made of light materials caused the fire to spread. It took the firefighters an hour to control the fire that destroyed P3 million worth of property, said Fire investigator Alikhasem Espenola.
Initial investigation showed that the fire allegedly started from the house of Leonora Tabor. Children reportedly played matches inside the house.
Firefighters received the call of the fire at 2:28 p.m. A general alarm was raised at 2:40 p.m.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo, the chief of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, said there were around at least 300 families who were displaced by the fire.
The fire victims were temporarily placed at Basak San Nicolas Sports Complex.
No one was injured in the fire except for Fire Officer 1 Clint Berin, who was punched twice in the head by Danilo Oamilda, a barangay intelligence network member.
Oamilda wanted his house to be sprayed with water first but when Berin did not heed his request Oamilda attacked the fireman. Oamilda’s house was razed. Berin reported the attack at the Pardo Police Station on Tuesday. /Correspondent Chito O. Aragon
