MANILA, Philippines -- An hour-long fire, believed to have caused by children playing matches, razed four apartments in Makati City on Monday afternoon.

The fire started around 3:05 p.m. from an unoccupied apartment owned by a certain Geofilo Yatco on Tanguile St., Barangay San Antonio, Makati City, Senior Fire Officer 2 Gerson Moncada, arson investigator, said.

It spread quickly to the next three apartments. Firefighters declared a "fire out" at 4:25 pm.

Moncada said they placed the alarm status at Task Force Alpha because the houses near the apartments on fire were made of wood and light materials. Most fire trucks at the headquarters of the Makati Bureau of Fire had to be deployed in the area.

According to residents along Tanguile St., several children were seen playing inside the unoccupied apartment.

?Either they played with matches or tried to light up scrap materials inside the apartment,? Moncada said.

Fire investigators placed the estimate of the damage at P300,000.

Moncada said two fire volunteers were slightly injured while struggling to put out the fire.