Boy injured in Quiapo blaze

A fire suspected to be caused by an exploding transformer gutted a two-story wooden residential building in Quiapo, Manila and injured a 10-year-old boy yesterday morning.

The Manila Fire Department said the fire started at about 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Elizondo and Arlegui Streets in Quiapo. The fire reached Task Force Bravo level and was extinguished by responding firefighters at about 12:23 p.m.

According to fire investigators, victim Hussin Mauga, a resident of the Muslim Center, was rushed to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Sta. Cruz after he sustained burns in the left arm.

Arson investigators said prior to the fire, an electric transformer near the two-story structure exploded and sent sparks flying towards the wooden building.

Meanwhile, later in the afternoon, firefighters rushed to the Midland Plaza Hotel at the back of Robinson’s Place Mall in Malate, Manila after a fire hit one of its rooms on the fourth floor at about 4 p.m. The fire was extinguished some 20 minutes later. No one was reported hurt or killed in the fire. Arson investigators are still investigating the cause of the fire.

Despite claims of an intensified fire prevention campaign, the Bureau of Fire Protection-NCR still recorded a 78.5 percent increase in fire incidence in Metro Manila in March this year.

However, the report noted a decrease in fatalities with only two civilians killed compared to last year’s 22. — Mike Frialde and Katherine Adraneda