Parañaque blaze: 2 dead, 3 hurt

A housemaid and a helper were killed while three firemen were hurt when fire gutted a two-story house before dawn yesterday in Parañaque City.

The charred bodies of Wilma Castaneda, 25, and Medy Badanguivi, 22, were found at the second floor of the house, owned by Olivia Batara, at the Equity Homes subdivision in Barangay San Antonio.

As the responding firefighters were about to pull out the dead bodies, the floor collapsed, sending them crashing to the ground floor.

Three firefighters sustained injuries in various parts of the body.

They were identified as Senior Fire Officer 4 Enrique Francisco, SFO1 Gregorio Elbambo, and FO2 Artemio Villalino.

All three were immediately rushed to Olivares Hospital.

Elbambo and Villalino sustained minor injuries in the arm and knees, respectively, while Francisco was reportedly in serious condition after hurting his spinal column.

In a report, SFO1 Jesus Bayani Jr. said the fire originated from the kitchen at the ground floor at around 1:53 a.m. The owner’s son, Jerome, 21, told investigators that thick black smoke coming from the first floor of their house woke him up from sleep.

He then heard an explosion downstairs, prompting him to wake up his relatives in the other rooms as the fire quickly spread throughout the house.

Investigators said the maid and the helper could have suffocated from the thick smoke, trapping them inside their burning room.

The fire reached fourth alarm at 2:07 a.m.

Property worth an estimated P200,000 was destroyed before the fire was declared out at 3:20 a.m., investigators said.

The fire also damaged the family’s car.

Bayani said they are still trying to determine the cause of fire.