Van bursts into flames on EDSA

Fire gutted a van in the middle of EDSA before dawn yesterday, shocking motorists traversing Quezon City.

Information reaching the Quezon City Traffic Sector 1 in Balintawak revealed that a Toyota Lite Ace van reportedly owned by Army Captain Edwin Dumende suddenly caught fire in front of the Cloverleaf Market along the southbound lane of EDSA at 4 a.m. Monday. No one was reported hurt in the incident.  

Investigators are conducting further investigations to determine the exact cause of the fire, but initial findings disclosed that the blaze may have been caused by a short-circuit in the electrical system of the vehicle.

Police Officer 1 Mairo Ocay said the case was turned over to the Metro Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) Task Force EDSA.

Meanwhile, 10 houses were destroyed by fire Sunday night in Novaliches, also in Quezon City.

The Quezon City Fire Department said the fire broke out around 10:41 p.m. from one of the 10 houses located along Pilaril St. in Barangay Gulod.

The blaze ruined eight two-story apartment row houses and two bungalow-type houses. The fire reached the fourth alarm and was put out just minutes before midnight Monday. No one was reported injured in the fire.

Fire investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire. Damage to property was estimated at over a million pesos.

On Black Saturday, a predawn fire left 1,400 families homeless in Mandaluyong City.

Last week, fire razed a passenger bus of the Don Mariano Transit near the exit of the South Luzon Expressway while the bus was plying the Sucat-Alabang route. Fires also hit the Philippine Army Museum, Adamson University, the old building of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in Manila and 20 houses in Marikina City. – Katherine Adraneda