Fire hits Malabon slum area

At least 100 houses were burned when a fire broke out in a squatters’ colony in Malabon City yesterday morning.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Baltazar Erestain, arson investigator of the Malabon City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), said two were hurt in the incident — Carlito Siazon, 18, and Ana Marie Sarmiento, 34, who both sustained minor burns.

Chief Inspector Juan Reyes, Caloocan fire marshall, said the fire broke out at around 11:45 a.m. in Sitio 6, Barangay Catmon, which is one of the biggest community of informal settlers with around 5,000 residents.

The fire, fanned by strong winds, quickly devoured around 100 shanties in the neighborhood before firemen put it under control at around 12:43 p.m.

The Malabon City BFP, headed by fire marshal Chief Inspector Rodrigo Reyes, declared the fire out at around 1:19 p.m.

Erestain said that at the height of the blaze, Siazon and Sarmiento sustained burns in the arms and the face, respectively, while trying to save some of their belongings.

Mayor Canuto Oreta, who rushed to the area immediately, offered the Barangay Catmon covered court as temporary shelter to the fire victims but most of them decided to remain at the fire site.

Oreta’s public information officer, Bong Padua, said the local social welfare department, on the mayor’s directives, sent relief goods, tents, and other basic commodities to some 300 families who lost their houses.

When asked about plans for relocation of the fire victims, Oreta said it will be a big problem since most people in the area do not want to be relocated to other areas.

Meanwhile, about an hour after the Malabon fire was declared out, another fire razed some 15 houses, injuring one and leaving some 25 families without homes in Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan City.

Reyes said the fire started from a house where children were seen earlier playing with lighted matches.