- Morning fire razes 200 houses in Agdao
A HUGE fire caused more than P1.6 million in damage after gobbling 200 houses at Barangay Tomas Monteverde in Agdao District at 7:21 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
In an interview on Tuesday afternoon, Senior Fire Officer 4 Ramil Gillado, Davao City Fire District Station spokesperson, said the fire started at the ceiling of the second floor of William Varona’s house.
The flames quickly escalated to the nearby houses, which were made of light materials.
Immediately, firefighters and volunteers responded to the fire scene but the narrow alley proved to be an obstacle. As a result, they lost precious seconds to put out the fire at the soonest possible time.
“Medyo naka encounter ug difficulties atong mga responding fire trucks sa pag maneuver tungod sa kagamay sa dalan. Nag layout na lang ug taas nga hose padulong sa fire scene kay dili na ka sulod ubang firetrucks nato labi na tong mga dagko (Our responding fire trucks encountered some difficulties in maneuvering due to the narrow roads. Instead, they just laid out a long hose leading to the fire scene because the other fire trucks, especially the big ones, could not go inside),” he said.
“Dikit ug mostly made of light materials ang involved na balay maong paspas ang pagkatag sa kalayo (The houses are jammed together and they were made of light materials, allowing the flames to spread quickly),” he added.
Firefighters declared a fire-out at 9:14 a.m.
Based on the initial investigation, the cause of the fire was electrical ignition.
The report also showed that at least 235 houses razed by the fire went to a third alarm. A three-alarm fire call will bring triple the amount of firefighters, trucks, and equipment to the fire scene.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, the affected residents were temporarily sheltered at the covered court of the said barangay.
