200 houses razed in a Christmas morning fire in Duljo Fatima in Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Philippines -Cebu City residents woke up on Christmas morning with hundreds of fellow Cebuanos displaced in dawn fire that razed around 200 houses in Barangay Duljo Fatima.

The fire of still unknown origin engulfed four sitios (sub villages) of the densely populated community.

The blaze was reported at 3:47 a.m. and by 4:11 a. m. , it was placed under Task Force Alpha, which is a call to mobilize firefighting units from neighboring cities and towns.

The blaze was placed under control at 6:26 a.m. But firefighters continue to put out the fire as of this writing.

Fire Chief Inspector Noel Nelson Ababon, the city fire marshall, said damage to properties was initially placed at P3 million.

The fire spread fast because most of the houses were made of light materials and built close to each other.

Ababon said firefighters also had a hard time putting out the fire because the area had narrow roads.