A spate of fire incidents hit Tacloban City this week.
A woman and her six children died on Wednesday when fire razed the tent that had been their temporary home since Yolanda devastated the city. According to fire investigators, an unattended kerosene lamp caused the fire, which broke out at around 12:20 a.m. on May 28. Fatalities were Maria Eliza Ocenar and her children Cathleen, Justine, Mark, Jasmine Claire, Jovelyn, and Jackylyn.
Fire Senior Superintendent Pablo Cordeta, Eastern Visayas regional director of the Bureau of Fire Protection said in an interview with Inquirer radio that the fire was immediately put out but was quick to spread.
The Ocenar family, with the father working as a fisherman in Samar, was among the typhoon victims who opted to stay at the tent city as the few bunkhouses built for Yolanda survivors were said to be substandard.
Meanwhile, another fire consumed residential units and commercial establishments later on the same day. At least 50 occupants were affected and damages were pegged at Php14.2 million. According to various reports, the fire started in the house of a certain Soledad Medalla. Investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire.
In the afternoon of May 29, another fire broke out, this time at the Tacloban City astrodome. The brief blaze reached only the first alarm and was quickly put out. Negligible damage was reported and no casualties were recorded.
