Girl, 7, dies in Sta. Cruz blaze

A seven-year-old girl was killed in one of two fires which successively hit the Sta. Cruz and Paco districts in Manila yesterday.

The first incident was a 30-minute blaze which razed a squatters’ colony in Sta. Cruz at dawn.

The charred remains of Rica Anne Calaingan was discovered by firefighters in one of the burned shanties along the Estero de San Lazaro, Fugoso street, Alonzo, Sta. Cruz during mopping up operations.

The victim was still holding on to a cauldron over her head, possibly in an attempt to shield herself from the intense heat and suffocating smoke.

The girl’s grandmother, Norberta Condero, admitted to investigators locking up her granddaughter inside their shanty at around 2 a.m. when she left for the market.

She said a lighted candle was left inside the shanty since they have no electricity.

Fire investigators said the fire started at around 2:30 a.m. at Condero’s shanty and rapidly spread to nearby houses made of light materials. Investigators said the fire could have started from a toppled lighted candle.

Firefighters had a hard time getting to the area since the only means of entry, a wooden footbridge, was engulfed by fire.

The fire which razed some 30 houses was finally placed under control at around 3:06 a.m. after reaching the fourth alarm.

Damage to property is still being assessed as of press time.

Six hours later, a fire razed several houses in Paco, Manila.

Investigators said the fire, which reached the fourth alarm, burned several houses along Cristobal street.

The fire was finally put out some 30 minutes later. No one was reported hurt.

In Pasay City, a fire hit a public high school and razed neighboring houses the other night.

A 61-year-old woman, identified as Linda Hunoras, of 2176 Dandan street, died of heart attack during the blaze.

Hunoras, according to fire investigators, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died while being revived.

Fire Inspector Leon Andiso said the blaze started at around 11:50 p.m. last Monday at a classroom on the second floor of the Epifanio delos Santos High School at the corner of Tramo and Villanueva streets.

Residents in the area told probers they saw a spark then an explosion in the classroom.

Andiso said the fire could have been caused by faulty wiring.

The fire spread and gutted all six classrooms on the second floor of the building and reached a nearby residential area, said Andiso.

The investigator said four houses were destroyed by the fire before they were able to put it out at around 1:30 a.m.

No other fatalities or injuries were hurt during the fire that reached the second alarm. — With Edu Punay