CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines - Pandemonium struck early Wednesday morning when flames engulfed almost half of a sitio and two adjacent barangays here.

As of late afternoon, the City Social and Welfare Development (CSWD) reported that some 177 families or at least 523 persons were rendered homeless by the fire that broke out in Sitio “Little Cebu,” Lapasan around 3a.m.

However, Chona Silvosa of CSWD—responding social worker—told reporters the number of victims may still rise since they were still finalizing their list.

Firefighters had a hard time quelling the conflagration as the area had only 1.2 m-wide pathways. The blaze then spread to neighboring barangays 22 and 26, Osmeña ext., this city.

SFO2 Rosalito Caratao, chief investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), said they were able to put off the fire around 4:00 am. He estimated the damages incurred at P10 million.

“The fire came from the second floor of a boarding house owned by a certainEdgar Lumawag. We are still investigating the cause of the fire,” said Caratao.