Boy killed in Caloocan blaze

A one-year-old boy was killed after a fire caused by a fallen kerosene lamp razed a shanty last Sunday night in Caloocan City.

Wilmer Vermug, 30, and his wife Evelyn, 27, positively identified the body of their son Erwin at the Caloocan City Central Fire Station.

At around 7:30 p.m., the couple left their son alone at home in Brixton Village, Barangay 175, Camarin, to buy items from a store located at a neighboring barangay.

Before leaving, the couple allegedly lighted a gas lamp and placed it on top of a table, arson investigator Fire Officer 3 Elmer Ababa, said.

Ababa said the boy could have reached for the kerosene lamp causing it to fall on the floor, resulting in the two-hour fire.

When the Vermugs arrived a few minutes later, their house was already engulfed by flames. The blaze spread and destroyed 22 more homes.

Virgilio Cahimat, the boy’s uncle, tried to save the boy from the burning shanty but failed. He sustained secondary burns in the arms and body.

Firefighters put the fire out at around 9:35 p.m.

In Makati, a 36-year-old aircon technician was hurt while assisting firefighters during a blaze that destroyed six houses early yesterday morning in Makati City.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Sonny de Guzman, arson investigator, said Terry Buenconsejo, a resident of Barangay Bangkal, sustained a cut on his left shoulder.

He went to the fire scene located at M. Reyes Macabulos street in the same barangay.

" Sumisigaw pa siya ng ‘sunog’ para magising yung mga kapitbahay at may dala siyang fire extinguisher," De Guzman said.

Probers said the incident is the 34th structural or vehicular fire to hit Makati City this year.

Initial investigation showed the fire started at around 1 a.m. at the second floor of an apartment. The blaze reached the second alarm by 1:15 a.m. before it was declared out at 2:12 a.m.

The fire consumed five two-story apartment houses. Another house located at the back of the apartments was also destroyed.

Concerned residents had to destroy one of the glass windows of a vehicle parked in front of the burning houses to move the car to safety.

In Manila, some 10 houses were destroyed in a fire that hit a residential area in Sta. Ana before dawn.

No one was hurt in the fire that started at a house on Eridium street at 4:30 a.m. A fire-out was declared at 5:19 a.m. — With Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe