Tondo fire leaves 1,500 homeless

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 240 families or 1,500 people were displaced by fire that hit a cluster of shanties at the Happyland community in Tondo, Manila before dawn yesterday.

The Bureau of Fire Protection reported that the blaze started at around 3:09 a.m. The BFP raised the fourth alarm an hour later.

Manila Fire Department chief Senior Supt. Christine Doctor-Cula declared the blaze under control at around 6:27 a.m. and fire put out just before 7 a.m.

Jessary Diestro, 16, was rushed to the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center after suffering an asthma attack while volunteer firefighter Christian Gracio, 21, was treated on-site for a small cut in his left arm.

The fire destroyed around 100 houses with an estimated P300,000 worth of property, the BFP reported.

The BFP has yet to determine the cause of the fire.