MANILA, Philippines—An hour-long fire razed a dozen houses built near the river in Marikina City on Sunday before noon.
No one was reported hurt in the fire, which started 11:08 a.m. from the house of a certain Melchor Amantes in Purok 5 in Barangay (village) Malanday, Marikina City.
The fire quickly spead to adjacent houses as most of them were made of wood and light materials, Fire Officer 3 Gramar de la Torre, arson investigator, said over the phone.
The blaze reached second alarm before firefighters managed to put it out around 12 noon.
De la Torre said some 24 families were left homeless.
The cause of the fire could not yet be determined as probers were still gathering clues and evidence from the site as of Sunday afternoon, he said.
He added that residents in the area had no idea what sparked the fire. An occupant of the house where the fire started was doing her laundry in front of the house at the time it happened.
“She was horrified upon seeing her house burning … the fire was already huge,” De la Torre said.