Fire hits Las Piñas school

Some 400 pupils won’t have any classrooms to go to in the next few weeks after a fire struck the Almanza I Elementary School in Veraville, Las Piñas early yesterday.

Arson investigator Fire Officer 1 Bobbe Imbo said one of the Grade 1 classrooms, the Home Economics classroom and the canteen were destroyed while two Grade 4 classrooms were partially damaged in the 72-minute blaze.

Imbo said no one was injured when fire broke out at the government-run school at around 12:30 a.m. The fire reached the fourth alarm before it was placed under control at around 1:42 a.m.

Fire investigators placed the damage to property at P200,000.

"We are still conducting an investigation and have not yet identified the cause of the blaze. But based on the accounts of witnesses, the fire started in one of the Grade I classrooms located at the ground floor of the left wing building," said Imbo.

The security guard on duty, Joylen Ravehlo, 25, said he was at the front gate of the school when he saw smoke coming out from one of the Grade 1 classrooms. He immediately called the fire department.

Except for one of the Grade 4 classrooms, all the affected rooms were located on the first floor.

In Taguig, some P500,000 worth of property was destroyed when fire hit a two-story house at around 11:20 p.m. last Friday.

Senior Fire Officer I Douglas Modomo said the house was owned by a certain Corazon Daluay, located at 7 Polintan Compound, P. Burgos street, Barangay Sta. Ana.

Investigators said the fire may have started from an unoccupied bedroom located on the second floor.

The fire only reached the first alarm and was contained in 27 minutes.

"The fire did not spread to the adjoining houses because of the fire wall that separated Daluay’s house from her neighbors," Modomo said.– Evelyn Macairan