Christmas Eve fire injures 2 persons; destroys boarding house

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Dec. 25 (PNA) -– Two people were injured and an estimated P100,000 worth of property was destroyed in a 30-minute fire here on Christmas Eve. 

City Fire Marshall Senior Insp. Reggy Olmedo said the fire broke out at around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday along Jamisola Street Extension in Barangay Sta. Lucia, this city.

Olmedo added that the fire started at the boarding house of Wilson Manaya when a lighted skyrocket (kwitis) plunged to the house instead of flying upward.

“The firecracker accidentally plunged inside the house that caused the fire,” one of the boarding house occupants, Rolly Pinas, told fire investigators.

The prompt response of local firemen prevented the fire from engulfing the entire boarding house.

Two boarders -- Melly Rose Lajagan and Mirafe Balibig -- were injured after they jumped from the boarding house’s second floor, investigators said. (PNA)
SCS/TPGJR/HIROHITO D. CADION/UTB