CEBU CITY – A 69-year-old woman died in the second deadly fire that hit the city in two days.
The body of Emma Cubillan was found in one of the four houses that were razed by the fire that broke out at 11:13 p.m. last Monday on R. Landon Street in Barangay San Antonio.
Cubilan’s husband had to be taken to a hospital after sustaining second degree burns on the face and body, said FO2 Fulbert Navarro of the Cebu City Department.
The fire damaged P10 million worth of property before it was put out more than an hour after it broke out.
Navarro said the couple occupied the second floor of a house owned by one Grace Go.
A lighted candle in the couple ‘s room may have caused the fire, Navarro said.
Some relatives told fire investigators that the woman would usually light a candle to say a prayer before going to sleep.
Navarro said they received reports that the couple was able to run out of the burning house but the woman returned inside probably to retrieve some valuables.
At least four families were displaced by the fire, said Ramil Ayuman, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The fire in Barangay San Antonio happened while investigators were still looking into Sunday’s incident in Barangay Sambag 1 where a retired 80-year-old doctor and her 71-year-old househelp died after they got trapped in a house that caught fire shortly before midnight. (Calvin D. Cordova)
