120 families left homeless by Cavite fire to spend Christmas in evacuation centers

Around 120 families in Cavite will spend Christmas in evacuation centers after a fire razed a residential area at the boundary of Imus and Kawit early morning in Monday.

According to Dano Tingcungco’s report in 24 Oras, no one was injured or died from the incident. However, many residents lost their possessions to the fire.

“Hindi ko pa iniisip yung bukas…wala pa akong naisip na plano kasi walang natira sa amin. Zero talaga. Lahat ng pinaghirapan ko, lahat ng pinaghirapan ng asawa ko, ubos na ubos talaga,” said Anna, one of the residents, as she cries about their situation two days before the Christmas.

(I’m not thinking about tomorrow…I have yet to make any plans because we lost everything. It’s really zero. Everything that I and my husband worked hard for were lost.)

In Tinabunan Elementary School, one of the three designated evacuation centers, Margie Gersalia was able to save not only the documents of her children but also the pink teddy bear of her daughter.

“Ang nasa utak ko na lang talaga ay nakaligtas po kaming lahat, buhay po kaming lahat,” said Gersalia.

(I’m just thinking that at least we are safe and everyone in my family is still alive.)

Fire authorities are still investigating the cause of the blazee, but this is not the first time it happened in the area.

“Yung area na ‘yun, hindi po first time na nasunog. May history na po sila. Kadalasan po ay unattended candle po,” said FO3 James Luther Nones, Imus Fire Station Investigator, noting that the last fire incident was in 2019.

(It’s not the first time that a fire happened in that area. There was already a history of fire in that area. The usual cause of fire is an unattended candle.)

Meanwhile, the local government of Imus has already provided financial assistance and other necessities to the victims. It will also replace the noche buena packages that were already distributed but were also destroyed by the fire.
—Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News