By Noel Punzalan/PNA
COTABATO CITY — A fire of still unknown origin hit a village here Tuesday night, gutting down 20 houses made of light materials.
No one was hurt in the incident.
Fire Officer 2 Aldrin Nara, city fire department spokesperson, said the fire in Purok Sibuyan, Barangay Rosary Heights Mother began at 8:25 p.m. at a house occupied by a certain Leonardo Lim.
The fire was extinguished some 30 minutes later.
“Initial investigation bared that Mr. Lim has a cognitive development problem (CDP),” Nara said.
A CDP is a mental motor impairment that includes memory loss, state of confusion, and lack of coordination in movements. Nara said they are still trying to determine the cause of the fire as neighbors saw Lim emerging from his house as the fire was starting to grow big.
“The fire quickly spread to adjacent houses separated only by about two to three meters apart,” Nara said.
Some 33 families living in the burnt houses were rendered homeless and are currently being assessed for assistance by the city government. Damage to properties was pegged at PHP300,000, according to Nara.
Earlier on the same day, a blaze also razed a house in Barangay Tamontaka 1 in this city.
No one was reported hurt in the incident.
