3 hurt, 150 houses razed in Navotas fire

MANILA, Philippines - Three persons were injured and at least 150 houses were destroyed during a three-hour fire that broke out in a densely populated area of Navotas City Sunday night.

Fire Officer 3 Domingo Gastilo, Navotas City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) arson investigator, identified the injured as fire volunteer Christian Rommel Mariano and couple Virginia and Ronnie Suba.

The Subas sustained burns, mostly on their arms, while Mariano suffered a broken leg when the roof he was standing on collapsed.

Gastilo said the local BFP office received a report of an ongoing fire at a house on Ipil street in Barangay North Bay Boulevard North owned by Maritess Batistis at around 10:30 p.m.

The Navotas firefighters, led by fire marshal Chief Inspector Felix Medes, equipped with three new fire trucks, quickly responded but failed to get to the site of the fire immediately.

“The road is too narrow for our fire trucks to pass through and we need to use water hoses measuring around 1,000 feet just to reach the burning houses,” Gastilo told The STAR.

It took the firefighters some two hours to control the blaze, which reached Task Force Alpha. Firemen declared the fire out at around 2:03 a.m.“The fire was caused by an unattended lighted candle for the area has no electricity. It’s the second time the same incident occurred. In 2003, a big fire also destroyed houses in the area,” Gastilo said.