Three houses burned down in the North between Sunday and Monday, one in San Roman and 2 in San Jose. The fires happened only hours apart leaving four persons displaced. Our colleagues from CTV3 interviewed the fire victims following the tragedy and here's what we gathered from them. Jomarie Lanza reports.
Two women in the north have nothing but the clothes on their backs after a fire destroyed their homes, both within the span of 12 hours.
The first fire happened in San Roman village just after 11:00 in the night, where a young mother and her 6 year old daughter were forced to flee from their beds and navigate through the smoke, frightened as to whether they would make it out alive.
Voice of: Arabella Moh, Fire Victim
"I was sleeping just after 11 when I smelled smoke, in my sleep i felt the smoke and when i opened my eyes i saw smoke all around, thick and white and when i got up to go into the living room I saw fire coming from the electric meter, I don't know where it was coming from above or below, I don't know I saw the fire and i went back into my room to get my daughter and we got out fast. I desperately went back in for her and we came out. I was scared that the fire would come after us, So I came out. I came out only with my daughter. I had to save my daughter. We were able to get out only me and my daughter, no papers or anything, all of it got burned, no clothes, nothing, everything was burned."
The second fire happened in San Jose, 11:00 the following morning where a woman not only lost her home but also her vegetable shop, because she says the fire truck ran out of water and the fire spread to not only her shop but also her father's home.
Concepcion Rosa, Fire Victim
"It was in the morning just after 11 i was in my business selling, when my brother in law came and said he saw fire, that my house was burning, and I said my house? And when I got up to go into my house there was so much smoke I could not see. I don't understand how, the stove was not on there was nothing, the only thing it could be was the current. After that we called the fire people, some men came, we called the firemen and they came and the police came, and they were unable to put out the fire they ran out of water they said and they left it still burning. After that my dads house caught fire, mine had already burned down. but because they could not out mine off properly my dads house burned down and so did my shop. Yes, my little shop where I sell vegetables, all my money and papers, all I am left with is the clothes I have on nothing else."
