Fire hits old houses, stores in Quezon town

Twenty old houses and 15 stores were hit by fire early morning on Monday, August 15, in Buenavista town, Quezon province. (Photo courtesy of the Buenavista town fire station information office)

LUCENA CITY—A fire on Monday razed 20 old houses and 15 small stores in Buenavista town in Quezon province.

Senior Fire Officer 4 Ramil Caparros, commander of the Buenavista fire station said on Tuesday, August 16, that the blaze at the town center near the public market left 45 families homeless.

The first alarm was raised at 4:15 a.m., he said. The blaze was under control at 5:45 a.m. and declared fire out at 6 a.m.

Some firemen from neighboring towns helped put out the blaze.

“Most of the burned houses were made of wood and light materials. The establishments were mostly small stores,” Caparros said in a phone interview.

Vice Mayor Alvin Rivera said the burned residential houses were old. “One of them was more than 100 years old,” Rivera said over the phone.

He said the local government had declared a state of calamity.

Mayor Reynaldo Rosilla Jr. led the mobilization of government resources to help the fire survivors.

He ordered the use of the town’s covered court and the top floor of the market building to shelter the victims

Caparros said the fire was probably caused by “electrical ignition due to overloading,” citing initial investigation.

He said no casualties and injuries were reported due to the fire.

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