Family of 5, neighbor perish in Pasig City fire

MANILA, Philippines—A family of five and a neighbor died after a predawn fire hit a squatters’ area in Pasig City, a Bureau of Fire Protection officer said Monday.

Fire Officer 3 Carlito Bañez identified the victims as Joseph Edloy, 30; his wife, Anne, 27; and their children Joanne, 6, Liza Jane, 3, and Bryan, less than a year old. The sixth reported casualty was only identified as Jessica, 16 years old.

Bañez said that the Edloy family died in the fire that started around 12:54 a.m. after getting stuck in their 3-storey house that was burning along with 13 other shanties in Ramville Neighborhood Association Caliuag Street, Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.

“Buntis din yung nanay [Anne], yung asawa ni Joseph. Pero wala nang makapagsabi kung ilang buwan na ‘yung dinadala niya (Anne was also pregnant, but no one could say how months she is on the way),” he said.

Bañez said the fire reached third alarm before it was declared to have been put out around 2 a.m.

He said that while the cause of the fire is still being determined, the flame that destroyed roughly a million-worth of properties started at the ground floor of the house owned by a certain Rosie Himson and was being rented by the Edloy family.

Bañez said 42 families were displaced by the fire.

Originally posted at 10:36 am | Monday, Dec. 19, 2011