Morning fire renders six families homeless

By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief
and Sita Asequia
Correspondent .

Iligan City — A morning fire in Zones 9 and 11 in Barangay Bagong Silang,  here has left six families homeless.

The Bureau of Fire Protection said a concerned citizen made a call at around 8:45 am yesterday.

The BFP declared the fire under control at 9:45 am.

No fatality was reported although residents in the barangay are inquiring as to the whereabouts of two elderly couples coming from Rogongon, an upland barangay  who visited  Bagong Silang.

Victims are now staying in the barangay auditorium and the City Social Welfare and Development headed by Grace Saquilabon are attending to their needs. The following were the initial listing of families that were rendered homeless by said fire, aside from Ogoc, Mondale, Magsalay, Butalid, Sumingit, Ortaleza and Anoya.

According to Gerald Ogoc, one of the victims who is an Overseas Filipino Worker, the fire started in the second floor of the house of one Merlyn Mondala which was near his house.

Ogoc posited that a cell phone being charge and left unattended may have started the fire.

As the smoke began to thicken with the heat becoming intense too, one of the kids downstairs in said house went upstairs to see what happened and retreated immediately as he saw the fire beginning on the second floor.

The neighbors did not have time to hold on to their belongings and Ogoc could only save his passport along with the other members of his family.

It was learned that there were eight fire trucks that responded to the distress call, including one from Lugait, Misamis Oriental and one from Gaisano, in addition to the city’s six. It was learned that the firemen had a hard time putting out the fire because the streets leading to the burning building were were narrow.