200 families lose homes in Parola Compound

Around 200 families lost their homes in a two-hour fire that hit the congested Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila, Wednesday morning. No one was hurt in the blaze that destroyed about 100 shanties in Parola’s Gate 12 and caused P2 million worth of damage, SFO2 Emmanuel Gaspar of the Manila Fire Department said. The fire that reached the fifth alarm, said Gaspar, began at 10:14 a.m. in the house of Minda Kasalo. It was placed under control at 11:10 a.m. and put out at 11:50 a.m. Arson investigators believe that a gas lamp or lighted candle may have started the fire since Kasalo’s house had no electricity at the time of the blaze. Allison W. Lopez

Starlet’s apartment burns down in Mandaluyong

Starlet Angelica Jones woke up to the smell of fire in her apartment Wednesday morning. FO3 Victorino Tablay said the fire, which started at 5:55 a.m. and was doused two hours later, burned down the apartment on the third floor Jones was sharing with her family in Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City. Tablay said the fire destroyed Jones’ possessions estimated at P1 million. The investigator said the blaze started in the kitchen. According to Tablay, investigators are looking at the possibility that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical extension that had overheated. Tablay said no one was injured or killed in the fire that reached the fourth alarm. Kristine L. Alave