Fire guts 50 houses in Quezon City slum

What started as a barbecue for a noontime meal might have caused a full-blown fire that destroyed 50 houses at a shantytown in Old Balara, Quezon City, authorities said yesterday.

Fire Chief Inspector Romeo Rillo, head of Quezon City Fire Station 2, said the fire, which reached the fifth alarm, started at 1 p.m. and was put out two hours later.

He said no one was reported hurt or seriously injured by the blaze.

"What might have caused the fire is that someone has lighted up a fire for a noon-time grill, as stated by several witnesses," Rillo told reporters.

He noted that "informal settlers" often use an open fire to cook their food since it is cheaper than using electric or gas-operated cooking stoves.

Rillo stressed the need for extra precautions, particularly in squatters’ areas, since most of the houses are made of highly combustible materials such as wood, corrugated carton, and plastic. The houses are also too close to one another and an open fire could easily spread to neighboring houses, he added.

In Caloocan City, some 25 families were rendered homeless by a fire that started Sunday night at the West Grace Park subdivision.

City fire marshal Chief Inspector Juan Reyes initially placed the property damage at P200,000. No one was reported killed or injured.

The cause of the fire is yet to be established, Reyes said.

Arson investigator SFO2 Zoilo Crisostomo said the fire started at 11:15 p.m. at an old two-story house on 8th Avenue owned by the late Policarpio Hidalgo.

The 50-year-old Hidalgo house, mostly made of wood, was destroyed together with five other residential structures, investigators said.

Crisostomo said the house was occupied by about four families, all descendants of Hidalgo by blood and by marriage, who left the house hours earlier for an outing in a resort in Bulacan. Only five other relatives were left behind. They were fast asleep when the fire broke out. They managed to escape just in time but were unable to save any belongings except the clothes on their backs. – With Jerry Botial