Cagayan de oro: Heritage houses were among the properties destroyed after a fire razed a city block here, causing an estimated PHP8 million in damage.
According to Philippines News Agency, community historian Raul Ilogon mentioned that pre-World War II ancestral houses, later converted into commercial buildings, were affected. He noted that some of these houses had been renovated over the years due to damage from American bombings during World War II.
History professor Ryan Alber Ignacius Sanchez, who serves as a heritage consultant at the Department of Tourism, stated that some of the houses belonged to prominent families. The fire, which broke out between Burgos and JR Borja streets on Tuesday afternoon, reached a fourth alarm before firefighters extinguished it around 7 p.m.
Reports indicate that the Bureau of Fire Protection received a fire call at 5:24 p.m. The fire alarm was raised to the third level at 5:27 p.m. and then to the fourth alarm at 5:41 p.m. The fire was controlled by 7 p.m. and declared out by 8:22 p.m. Seven houses were completely destroyed, and three others partially damaged, affecting 24 families or 121 individuals, with approximately 800 square meters of the residential area burned.
During the firefighting operation, a fire truck from the Bureau of Fire Protection was also damaged. While there were no fatalities, two individuals, including a BFP officer, sustained injuries. The officer suffered first-degree burns on the left forearm and ear.
The City Social Welfare and Development Department reported that the displaced residents are temporarily housed at the city amphitheater, now serving as an evacuation center. Fire Senior Inspector Johnrey Donasco, the operations chief of the city BFP, explained that the fire spread rapidly due to the wooden construction of many houses. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Local historian Antonio J. Montalvan II has documented Cagayan de Oro's susceptibility to fires and the loss of historical structures, highlighting significant fires in 1624, 1890, and 1969. The surviving wooden heritage houses are notable for their distinct Kagay-anon architectural features, including wooden rounded corners and double roofing.
