CEBU CITY — A couple and their two children died and eight others were injured in a fire in Barangay Tinago here on Tuesday, February 27.

ARSON investigators sift through the rubble of several houses that were razed by a fire in Barangay Tinago, Cebu City at dawn on Tuesday, February 27. (Contributed photo)
The fatalities were identified as Parulito Otadoy, 60, his 54-year-old wife Rosita, and their children Joseph, 14, and Jeffrey, 12.
Injured were Rose Ann Otadoy, 33; Jemar Otadoy, 36; Emarie Otadoy, 36; Keira Marie Otadoy, Neil John Otadoy, Christopher Otadoy, Dylan Otadoy, and Sean Roby Ruelan, 21.
The victims were occupants of a three-story house that caught fire at 1:46 a.m. The fire reached the fourth alarm before it was put out at 5:09 a.m.
Sixteen houses were razed and 13 others were damaged. At least 30 families were displaced by the fire. Property damage was pegged at P7,050,000.
According to Fire Officer 3 Fullbert Navarro, investigator of the Cebu City Fire Department, the fire started on the second floor of the house. The fatalities were sleeping on the third floor of the house when the fire broke out.
Navarro said the fatalities may have been trapped since the fire started on the third floor.
The fire spread quickly as most houses in the area were made of light materials.
Due to narrow roads, firefighters had to connect their hoses to reach the fire scene.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.