MANILA, Philippines — Victims of the fire that razed homes in Paco, Manila early Wednesday have lamented the repetitive fires that have struck their community, saying that the fires are making it hard for them to recover.
People from Paco said after the blaze was put out that fires have occurred multiple times in less than five years. Resident Jerry Acosta shared they also went through a fire around two years ago.
Most residents like Acosta were unable to secure most of their belongings.
“‘Yong huli mga one year ago, two years ago gano’n. Ang naligtas lang po namin mga damit, damit lang po saka mga dokumento, wala na po,” Acosta said.
(The last fire was around one or two years ago. We only managed to retrieve our clothes and some important documents.)
“May pandemya na nga tapos magpa-Pasko pa, parang konting pagsubok lang, pero okay pa rin, kaya pa naman,” he added.
(We have a pandemic while Christmas is fast approaching then this happened. It’s quite a challenge but we’re okay, we’re hanging on.)
The fire, which started around 4:00 a.m., was elevated to the fourth alarm at 5:25 a.m. before it was finally declared out before 9:00 a.m. A 54-year-old woman died in the incident while another woman suffered injuries.