A 70-year-old man confined to bed due to his advanced age died in a fire which was reported to authorities three hours after the incident due to poor telecommunications signal in Ubay town.
F02 Jeremy Bartolaba of the Ubay Fire Station said Saturnino Vistal who was alone during the incident was burned along with the house in Barangay San Pascual at past 5 a.m.
The blaze was believed to have started from unattended rice which was being cooked over an open flame by Vistal’s wife, Saturnina.
“Iyang asawa si Saturnina maninda og chihirya anang simbahan ma kadlawon unya naglung-ag siya daan unya iyang gibayaan ang iyang nilung-ag kay gipa anupan niya aron maluto,” said Bartolaba.
The open flame, for still unknown reasons, spread throughout the kitchen and eventually engulfing the entire house.
“Ang ilang kusina ug higdaanan duol ra kay bedridden naman, di na kalihok mao to pagsiga sa kusina, naabtan gyud siya [Saturnino],” Bartolaba said.
Saturnino’s charred remains were later found with four-degree burns after the fire was put out.
According to Bartolaba, the fire started at around 5 a.m. but they were received information about the incident some three hours later at 8 a.m.
“Og nasayo-sayo lang og report, mada pa unta to. Pero tungod sa kahinay sa signal, putol-putol gyud ang signal diri,” said he said.
The fire officer added that fire was already out and the house was already razed when they arrived at the scene at around 8:30 a.m.
The firefighters only conducted a retrieval operation of the victim’s remains which was immediately buried.
Bartolaba added that fire was estimated to have left P20,000 worth of property damages.
Second fire
At dawn on Tuesday, another fire was reported in the town gutting the house of one Jewel Delfin in Barangay Poblacion.
The blaze was believed to have started due to overloaded electrical connection.
“Daghan ra ang nasaksak unya mura’g ilang wire dili na kaayo [quality] tungod sa bagyo pero initial pa na kay under investigation pa namo,” said Bartolaba.
The=fire was noted to have started in the house’ s living room at past 1 a.m.
Fire authorities declared the blaze was declared fire out around 2:45 a.m.
Non one was injured during the incident but the fire left around P100,000 in damages. (A. Doydora)