Caretaker loses wife, 3 kids in fire

MANILA, Philippines - A caretaker who had gone out to buy dinner for his family Sunday night returned less than an hour later to find that his wife and three children were killed in a fire that destroyed the home he had hired to mind.

Melvin Calunod became hysterical as firefighters carried out the bodies of his wife, Blitz, 44, and children Andrei, 4; Yui, 2, and Chelsea, 1.

Arson investigator Fire Officer 3 Diosdado Bigoy said he has yet to talk to Calunod, who is “still in a state of shock.”

Calunod and his wife were hired as caretakers of a two-story house on San Roque street in Barangay Ilaya. According to his neighbors, Calunod left to buy food at a fastfood restaurant, as requested by his three children, when the fire broke out at around 8:50 p.m.

Chief Inspector Nahuma Tarroza, Mandaluyong City fire chief, said the fire started at the ground floor of the two-story house. Other occupants of the house were able to escape and neighbors were busy saving their belongings.

“We did not hear any shouts for help as we were too busy saving our appliances and other household and personal belongings,” a neighbor told Bigoy. The fire, which reached second alarm, also destroyed another house before it was put out at around 9:25 p.m.

Bigoy said Blitz and her children were trapped in a bathroom. Firefighters found Blitz holding her youngest child with her right arm and her two other children with her left.

After firefighters carried out the victims’ bodies, Calunod arrived, carrying the food he bought for his family. He dropped the food and rushed toward the bodies of his family. Neighbors had to calm him down, Bigoy said.

According to Bigoy, they are still investigating the cause of the fire, which destroyed property estimated at P500,000.