Teacher, 3 kids die in Iloilo fire

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A teacher and her three young children were killed in an early morning fire that gobbled their house in Dumangas, Iloilo.

The bodies of Rhea Padios, 38, and her sons Hienz Michael, 7, and Hera Earl, 6, and daughter Hanly Eslestine, 3, were found inside their burnt house at Barangay Pagdugue.

Fire Senior Inspector Michael Salvacion, Dumangas Fire Station chief, said they received the fire call around 4:45 a.m. on Nov 10, 2021.

But residents surmised that the fire could have erupted around 4:30 a.m.

When fire responders arrived five minutes after the call, the lone bedroom of the single storey house already collapsed.

At that time, fire was still engulfing the living room and the kitchen.

The fire easily spread, as the house was only 40 square meters and made of light materials. Firemen declared “fire out” by 5:19 a.m. they later found the bodies inside the room.

It was theorized that the family of four was sleeping on a double-deck bed when the conflagration occurred.

“Based on our observation, the mother could have attempted to open the steel matting window to escape the fire,” Salvacion said.

Reports said that Padios’ husband is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW). He was still in Metro Manila when the incident happened.

Salvacion said they’re still investigating the cause of the fire.

But based on initial investigation, there is a possibility that the cause could be electrical-related, Salvacion said.

Since the bedroom was the first to collapse, it could also be assumed that the fire originated from that portion of the house.