ILOILO City – A 74-year-old woman and her two grandsons died in a fire that struck their house in Zone 2, Barangay M.H. del Pilar, Jaro district around 3:28 a.m. yesterday, All Souls’ Day.
The blaze that started at the house Natividad Fanunciano also spread to four other houses, according to Bureau of Fire Protection’s (BFP) Chief Inspector Christopher Regencia, city fire marshal.
Fanunciano’s house was made of mixed materials.
“We are looking at two angles based on the testimonies of our witnesses. It could be due to an unattended candle or electrical wiring,” said Regencia.
Fanunciano had an altar situated below the stairs.
BFP placed the damage at P400,000.
Fanunciano and her two grandchildren, Iman Fredrick Apongol, 12, and Ivan James Apongol, 10, were unable to escape from the burning house.
“They were trapped in the house. The gate was locked. The main door was locked. The fire started at the ground floor and they were on the second floor. Their windows had iron grills so they had no way of leaving the house. If bumaba sila may apoy at usok naman,” said Regencia.
Responding firefighters had to cut the lock of the gate and forcibly break the main door just to get inside the burning house, he revealed.
“Because it was too dark we could not locate their exact locations inside the house. At that time, they were probably already suffocated,” said Regencia.
When firemen finally found their bodies, these were already charred.
Both parents of the children were working abroad; they were left in the care of their grandmother.
A total of four houses were totally damaged. Two of these were owned by Fanunciano. The two others were owned by neighbors Zeniada Ruiz and Rolando Arguelles.
Four other houses were partially damaged. They were owned by Editha Jeruta, Milagros Sibag, Lilia Ruiz, and Agri Malicia.
BFP declared the fire under control at 4:06 a.m. and a fire out at 5:15 a.m.
Regencia said BFP men have been making the rounds in the city since Oct. 27 for the public to be aware of fire safety tips before leaving their houses to go to cemeteries in observance All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2)./PN
