3-year-old girl dies in Guimbal house fire

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 3-year-old girl died after she was trapped inside her family’s burning home in Guimbal, Iloilo, on the afternoon of March 11.

The child, identified only as Neneng, was sleeping alone when the fire broke out in their two-story house in Barangay Cabubuhan, a village more than 5 kilometers from the town proper.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Ma. Tricila Basco, chief of the operations section of the Bureau of Fire Protection-Guimbal, said they received the fire call at about 1:58 p.m. Wednesday.

By 2:05 p.m., firefighters had reached the scene.

Firefighters had to walk at least 150 meters because the house could not be reached by four-wheel vehicles.

Basco said about 70% of the house had already burned when firefighters arrived.

The fire spread quickly because the structure was made of indigenous materials.

Basco said the upper portion of the house collapsed, and the child’s body went down with it.

Authorities learned that the victim had been left under the care of her 14-year-old sister.

Their mother had briefly gone to the barangay hall.

Their grandmother, Ruby, who lived beside the house, had also been asked to look after the children.

At the time of the fire, the older sibling was doing laundry when she noticed smoke coming from the room where her sister was sleeping.

She immediately sought help from their grandmother.

Ruby was resting downstairs with her five other grandchildren when the fire broke out.

She tried to go upstairs, but the flames had already engulfed the second floor.

Basco said the fire also totally destroyed a nearby house and partially damaged another.

The fire was placed under control at 2:32 p.m. and was fully extinguished at 2:54 p.m.

Basco said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

However, it appeared to have started in Neneng’s room.

Basco said investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the fire may have been caused either by the electric fan the child was using or by a tablet that was being charged while she slept.

Based on the BFP’s assessment, damage to property was estimated at PHP 2,435,000.