A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy died in a fire that hit his family’s home in Barangay Poblacion, Aloguinsan town, southwest Cebu on Friday night, June 3, 2022.Firefighters identified the lone fatality as Izach Pielago, 3.Senior Fire Officer 1 Johnmer Lesigues, the chief of Aloguinsan’s fire department, told SunStar Cebu that the fire started at around 8:22 p.m. on Friday.The fire was raised under first alarm at 8:27 p.m. and at second alarm at around 8:30 p.m. The fire was eventually placed under control at around 8:40 p.m.Lesigues said that during the fire, rescuers attempted to rescue Izach and his two older siblings. Only Michael Richard, 10, and Rio Jenjie, 8, were rescued.A rescuer told fire officials that he was able to return to the area to rescue Izach but he lost hold of him for fear of being trapped inside the house as the fire was becoming bigger.Lesigues said the fire might have been caused by a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank which ignited from the lighted stove burner that was left open after Michael Richard to used it to boil water.The LPG tank might have exploded due to the intense heat from the lighted stove burner, he added.The father of the children is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) and was not around during the fire, while their mother, Ann Marie Alvarado Pantin Pielago, was giving birth at the birthing center across their home, leaving their three children to the care of their 15- year-old neighbor.Ann, in a separate interview, said that it was she who requested her eldest son to boil some water. Soon after, a fire broke out.The eldest child hurriedly went out of the house after noticing the fire, leaving his two siblings inside the room, and prompting neighbors to rush in to try to rescue them.But some witnesses claimed that Izach, who had been sleeping, refused to go with his rescuer whom he did not know and went back to his room.According to witnesses, the child was afraid to go with someone else.Neighbors said they heard a loud explosion possibly from the LPG tank.Lesigues admitted that they could have saved the victim had they been informed immediately.The fire station is located around 300 meters away from the house of the Pielagos.But Lesigues blamed bystanders who opted to post videos and photos of the fire rather than inform them of the fire.“Unsa man pud ni gud ang mga tawo nga naa didto inay mopahibalo sa bombero! ga-una man live sa FB, nagpicture-picture, video para maka post sos paita,” Lesigues added.(Instead of informing the firemen, people took pictures and videos so they could post these on Facebook).The Aloguinsan Fire station placed the damage of the fire at P150,000.