ZAMBOANGA CITY — A massive fire that struck Barangay Sangali shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday, August 14, destroyed around 40 houses and displaced approximately 50 families, prompting the Zamboanga City Government to immediately mobilize assistance for those affected.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)–Zamboanga City Fire District reported that the blaze, which reached the third alarm, razed more or less 40 houses primarily made of light materials. The fire left dozens of families without homes and forced them to seek temporary shelter at the Sangali covered court.
The fire also resulted in one person sustaining slight injuries. Initial estimates placed property damage at approximately ₱1.4 million, although authorities may still conduct further assessment.
Early Friday morning, personnel from the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) conducted profiling and assessment of the displaced families at the temporary shelter. The activity was undertaken to determine their immediate needs and facilitate the delivery of food, temporary shelter assistance and other forms of support from the city government.
Mayor Khymer Olaso, through Acting Mayor Beng Climaco, directed the CSWDO, the Zamboanga City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (ZCDRRMO) and other concerned agencies to promptly extend assistance to the fire-hit families.
The ZCDRRMO has begun providing basic necessities at the temporary evacuation site. As of posting time, the office was delivering jerry cans filled with purified water, two portable toilets and a 200-liter water storage tank to help address the immediate sanitation and water needs of the displaced residents.
The firefighting and emergency response involved multiple government and auxiliary resources. The responding units included nine BFP fire trucks, three ZCDRRMO water tankers, one ZCDRRMO ambulance, one Nancy water tanker, as well as auxiliary responders.
The coordinated response helped contain the fire, while emergency personnel also attended to the needs of residents affected by the incident.
Meanwhile, BFP fire investigators are continuing their probe into the cause and origin of the fire. Authorities have yet to release a definitive finding on what triggered the conflagration.
For the affected families, the immediate priority remains securing temporary shelter, food, water and other basic necessities as the city government works to assess the full extent of the disaster and determine further assistance.
The incident underscores the vulnerability of densely built communities where houses made of light materials can allow fires to spread rapidly, making early detection, emergency preparedness and access to firefighting resources critical in preventing further loss of property and protecting residents.