CEBU CITY — At least 25 families were displaced after their houses were destroyed by fire that broke out Friday dawn in Barangay Calamba here.
The fire broke out at 2:40 a.m. The fire had razed 25 houses before it was contained at 3:26 a.m., said FO3 Emerson Arceo of the Cebu City Fire Department.
Fire damage was pegged at P300,000, said Arceo.
Calamba barangay captain Victor Quijano said it took almost an hour before the fire was put out since it broke out in an interior portion that it made it hard for the firefighters to penetrate.
Quijano said it didn’t help that the barangay wasn’t able to deploy its own firetruck.
Quijano said there was a firetruck intended for the barangay but it was turned over to the barangay’s Mayor’s Information and Liaison Officers (MILO) office.
City Mayor Edgardo Labella formed the MILO offices purportedly to ensure that concerns of the residents in the city’s 80 barangays will be addressed.
Quijano said he was asked to submit a list of personnel who will man the firetruck along with their certificates of competency (COC).
Quijano said he complied with the requirement but the firetruck was still with the MILO office.
“Why would they still train a crew when the barangay has already hired some people to man the firetruck,” said Quijano.
Quijano, who is an ally of former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmena, said the Calamba residents should know the real reason why the barangay still didn’t have an operational firetruck.
“Disaster chooses no one and I hope they will tell the truth when the people will start looking for the firetruck,” said Quijano.