3 kids, grandma die in Caloocan fire

MANILA, Philippines - Three children and their grandmother were killed when an unattended candle burned a shanty in one of Caloocan City’s slums shortly before midnight Sunday.

The bodies of Alexandra Samosa, one; Rebecca, two; Emmalyn, four; and Eufamia Cuadra, 56, “were beyond recognition” when they were found minutes after the fire broke out in their house in Barangay 186, Tala.  

The victims were asleep when a lit candle placed near the door set the house on fire. Their charred bodies lay beside each other on their wooden beddings when retrieved.

The children’s mother, Jocelyn Cuadra, 27, was watching television at a neighbor’s house when the fire broke out. She insisted that she put out the candle and oil lamp near the kitchen before she left her mother’s house an hour before.

The “burn patterns” however, belied her statement, according to the report of arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 4 Randy Resurrecion.

“Ocular inspection showed that the oil lamp in the kitchen was not the source of ignition as it was not affected by the fire. (This points) to the candle as the source of ignition based on the burn patterns,” the report read.

Firemen said the incident happened so fast that even firefighters were advised not to proceed to the area anymore as the blaze had been put out by the residents using buckets of water.

The area is also difficult to reach because it is located on a hilly terrain that is 100 meters away from the main road.

The children’s father, security guard Fernando Sumusa, was working at Funeraria Una when the fire broke out. He found out about his children’s deaths when their bodies were brought to the funeral parlor where he worked.