THE City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) sent teams to assess and extend aid to several families of Seaside, Kolambog in Barangay Lapasan whose homes were destroyed by a fire that broke out at 7:51 am today.
Initial reports received from the Bureau of Fire Protection-Cagayan de Oro (BFP-CDO) Fire Department showed that 20 families were displaced while 14 houses were destroyed in the fire that was eventually put out at 10:02 am, Thursday.
The losses sustained due to the fire, the second to hit Barangay Lapasan this month, were initially pegged at P1.2 million.
An assessment conducted by the CSWDO team pegged the costs of destroyed properties at P2.3 million with 15 families displaced and eight houses destroyed by the fire.
“The fire originated at the house of Helen Salise, a senior citizen. Investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing,” said Senior Fire Officer Dennis Madlos of the BFP-CDO Lapasan station.
On December 19, about seven families were displaced by a fire that destroyed their homes in Sitio Lawesbra, Barangay Lapasan. The families are temporarily relocated at the Sto. Niño covered court in the same barangay.
The families were provided counseling by the CSWD’s psychosocial division while sacks of rice, canned goods, and four packs of noodles were distributed to the displaced families.
In a previous interview, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy said the CSWDO has a community kitchen program similar to what his office implemented during his days as the city’s first district congressman.
“Even during my days as barangay captain of Barangay Carmen, the community kitchen program is effective in providing ready meals to affected families and we will continue with this at the CSWDO,” the mayor said in his recent radio program ‘Ang Inyong Alagad: Mayor Klarex Uy.’ (Stephen Capillas with a report by Monica Borja of City Information Office)
