ZAMBOANGA CITY—More than a hundred families in Tetuan village here were left homeless by a fire that broke out in the neighborhood past 11 p.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 6).
Maria Socorro Rojas, city social welfare and development officer, said the displaced families had taken temporary shelter at a school.
The displaced community was adjacent to a soda bottling plant and some 3 km from the town center.
Chief Insp. Jacqueline Ortega, city fire marshal, said up to 40 houses had been destroyed.
She said the fire was caused by an electrical short-circuit in the residence of a certain Adela Pitua.
The fire reached second alarm and firefighting support came from over a dozen stations, Ortega said.
The blaze was put off around 1 p.m and the estimated damage was worth about P350,000.
This is the second fire in the city in the New Year. The first was last Jan. 4 that gutted the warehouses of Aleson Shipping.