BURNED HOUSES. The city of Koronadal logs its first fire incident this year when a blaze of still unknown origin gutted five neighboring houses in Barangay Santa Cruz on Wednesday night (March 9, 2022). The Bureau of Fire Protection is still investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed at least PHP800,000 worth of properties. (Photo courtesy of Junril Encio) KORONADAL CITY - An estimated PHP800,000 worth of properties were lost when a fire hit five adjacent houses in Barangay Santa Cruz, in this city on Wednesday evening, a fire official said. In a report Thursday, Senior Fire Officer I Alexander Alinsugay, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) - Koronadal investigator, said the blaze that allegedly started at the house of the Tarucan family quickly spread to the neighboring residences. "Nobody was home (Tarucan) when the fire broke out but we are still determining the ignition source," Alinsugay said. He said the fire had gutted the houses when the BFP personnel were not able to arrive on time in the area, as it was not immediately reported to them. "The fire started at 8:45 p.m. we received a call at 8:55 p.m., we arrived in the place of the incident at 9:02 p.m., we have declared fire out at 9:30 p.m.," Alinsugay said. Despite the blaze, he said no one was injured in the incident. Cyrus Urbano, city disaster risk reduction and management council action officer, said some 20 fire victims are now sheltered at the village gymnasium, while several others opted to temporarily stay with their relatives. Urbano said the city government will help the victims rebuild their homes. "What is important is there must be proper reporting and documentation to support the claim for housing assistance," he added. Urbano appealed to the public not to be complacent, noting that conflagrations may still erupt even during the rainy days. The blaze here Wednesday is the first incident recorded in Koronadal and the second in the province of South Cotabato during this Fire Prevention Month. On March 3, at least PHP1.8 million worth of properties went up in smoke in a blaze that hit two big houses in Barangay Poblacion, Sto. Nino, South Cotabato. (PNA) }