BY GERRY LEE GORIT
BALULANG, Cagayan de Oro City – A fire of still undetermined origin has caused the life of a one year old and affected at least 16 families, a fire officer reported yesterday.
SFO4 Emmanuel Paculba, fire investigator from the Bureau of Fire told MDN in an interview that the child who was caught by fire and died was identified as a certain Carl Anthony Corpuz, a resident of the said barangay.
SFO4 Paculba said no one was able to save the child, not even his immediate family and they are still investigating the whereabouts of the child’s immediate kins when the fire started.
The fire investigator confirmed that the fire incident started at around 1:52 PM yesterday in Barangay Balulang, a few meters from the main highway.
“Duol ra kaayo sa kalsada ang sunog. Diha ra sa may pampang gikan sa kalsada. (The fire was very near to the main highway in Barangay Balulang. Just on the cliff a few meters from the main road),” SFO4 Paculba said.
FAILED RESCUE ATTEMPT
The fire investigator also revealed to MDN that a certain Nelson Cayao, a relative of the victim tried to rescue the child but due to the big fire his rescue efforts failed.
“Mr Cayao tried to rescue the victim but he was hampered by the big fire and it also caused his injuries and bruises,” the fire investigator claimed.
IMMEDIATE EVACUATION
Meanwhile, the local government unit in Barangay Balulang immediately sent the affected families to the barangay covered court in Barangay Balulang, and they were immediately assisted by the local social welfare officers coming from the City Social Welfare Department (CSWD) from the City Government.
As usual, the local government councilors of Cagayan de Oro City are set to meet to determine the extent of damage to the fire as well as the immediate monetary cash they can give to the 16 affected families.
The City Councilors are also expected to get the financial aid from the City Government/s calamity fund.
