400 homeless in 5-hour fire in QC

FIRE REPORT. Captain Domingo dela Cruz of Quezon City’s Bureau of Fire Protection is interviewed by media on the details of the fire that broke out in the village of Unang Sigaw in Balintawak Thursday, October 18, 2012. Video by INQUIRER.net’s Noy Morcoso III

PHOTO BY INQUIRER.net’s NOY MORCOSO III

MANILA, Philippines–Roughly 400 families lost their homeless, and one person was injured when fire swept through a slum community in Quezon City Thursday, a city fire officer said.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Albert Flores said Reynaldo Ramos, 30, sustained abrasions in his right abdomen after fire gutted his home and 200 others at Gana Compound on Quirino Highway in Barangay (village) Unang Sigaw, Balintawak, Quezon City at 9:48 a.m.

Although probers have yet to establish the cause of the fire, Flores said initial investigations showed that it may have started from the house owned by certain “Aling Carmen” at 1406 Lawin Area, Gana Compound.

“However, investigators weren’t able to get information from Aling Carmen as people have all evacuated the area during the post fire investigation,” Flores said.

The fire reached fifth alarm before it was completely put out at 2:15 p.m., he said.

Displaced families were temporarily sheltered at the Pugad Lawin Elementary School.

Originally posted at 12:11 p.m.