AT LEAST three fires broke out in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue in less than 24 hours since Friday night, July 29, 2022.Around 27 families living in a compound in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City are now temporarily living in the barangay’s designated evacuation center after a fire hit their homes at noon Saturday, July 30.The fire damage was P300,000, said SFO4 Jimmy Belecario of the Mandaue City Fire Office.Belecario said the fire started at the Eusebio Compound on Hernan Cortes Street, particularly at the house of Serena Rosel.Belecario said the fire was reported to them at around 12:23 p.m.The fire was raised to the second alarm and was declared under control within 30 minutes.At least 13 houses were damaged by the fire, Belecario said.Child with matchesIn a separate interview, Rosel, owner of the house where the fire allegedly started, claimed that one of her neighbor’s children started the fire.Rosel claimed the child was seen entering their house and accidentally torching their mattress while playing with matches.Rosel said she was out selling goods when the fire started, leaving only her children to attend to their one-story house.But Belecario said they are still conducting further investigation to determine what caused the fire.Separately, Camilo S. Basaca Jr., acting head of the Mandaue City Social Welfare and Services Office, said the about 27 families or more or less 100 individuals affected by the fire were housed at the Subangdaku Elementary School for the meantime.They were already given disaster kits with clothes, beddings, towels and other essentials.Cebu City firesHours before the fire that hit Mandaue City, at least two fires occurred in Cebu City.The first fire occurred on L. Lopez Drive in Barangay Calamba, where the fire destroyed the house occupied by Emily Ensomo and her children.Firefighters believe an unattended candle was to blame for the fire.The fire alarm was raised at 9:18 p.m. and was declared fire out after several minutes.FO3 Emerson Arceo of the Cebu City Fire Office said the fire occurred when Ensomo’s son, Ace and his wife allegedly left an unattended candle. Their area had been experiencing a blackout as the Visayan Electric Company was conducting maintenance works at the time.Arceo said the couple believe the unattended burning candle may have caused the fire that damaged P225,000 worth of property.CondominiumAt 7:25 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, another fire broke out at a condominium unit occupied by Kaye Vienna Kionisala and Kathleen Esther Libot in Barangay Kasambagan, in the same city.Damage from the fire was placed at P40,000.Arson investigators said an unattended electric mosquito coil might have started the fire. (MKG, BBT / TPT)