8 trapped to death in Valenzuela fire

Eight people, one of them a three-year-old girl, were trapped to death along with their dog after fire razed a two-story apartment in Valenzuela City early yesterday morning.

Witnesses said firemen tried to save the victims but the fire quickly spread and had already engulfed the entire building, which was partially made of wood, when they arrived.

The fatalities were Julieta Mendez, 35; her daughter Alma Karen Mendez, 19, and her live-in partner Danny Cubacob, 26; their daughter, Roma Mendez, 3; boarders Michelle Gibelagen, 18, and her sister Rochelle, 16; and live-in partners Michelle 24, and Ryan, 25. Their surnames could not be immediately known.

Arson investigator Police Officer 2 Arnel Soriano said all eight victims were found burned beyond recognition on the apartment’s second floor.

Investigators said the victims were sleeping when the fire, whose cause was still undertemined until late yesterday, broke out. Police said most of the adult victims were working the night shift and had just gone to bed. The ground floor of the building served as a textile storage room, they said.

Fire Officer 1 William Despuig said the apartment was owned by Gloria Gibelagen, the mother of victims Michelle and Rochelle.

Investigations showed the fire started at about 7:30 a.m. on the apartment’s ground floor on No. 57 Bartolome st., Barangay Veinte Reales in Valenzuela.

The fire immediately spread to the second floor, engulfing the whole building and trapping the victims.

Witnesses said the quick response of Valenzuela firemen and Veinte Reales barangay officials prevented the fire from spreading to neighboring houses.

Zaldy Gibelagen, 14, told The STAR he wanted to save his sisters, Michelle and Rochelle, and the other victims but flames forced them to turn back.

"The fire had already spread throughout the building," he said in Filipino.

Zaldy said he left the apartment at around 7:30 a.m. to play with friends in a nearby basketball court. When they returned a few minutes later, they saw fire engulfing the apartment.

Zaldy said he woke up at round 6:30 a.m. while his sisters Michelle and Rochelle were still asleep.

Zaldy said his mother Gloria, who owned the apartment, lives with her sister in Blumentritt, Manila.

Jun Ymasa, Barangay Veinte Reales tanod team leader, said the apartment had two fire escapes – one near the veranda and the other beside the bathroom.

Ymasa said they found one of the male victims inside the bathroom, and that he might have tried to get out of the burning building through the fire escape.

"He might have opened the fire escape before being overcome by panic," he said.

Ymasa said the apartment’s concrete walls were covered by black particles, while the wooden walls inside were completely burned along with the furniture and the personal belongings of the victims.

All that was left of the building were the first two marble steps of the stairs leading to the second floor, where the bodies of the victims were found, he added.

The fire was placed under control after more than an hour. –With Pete Laude