An hour-long fire, which authorities traced to a household that used candles for lighting for lack of power supply, killed two men and left some 200 families homeless in Quezon City on Thursday afternoon.
An arson investigator said Andy Gonzales, 49, was trapped inside his burning house while the other fatality, Jaime Aguilar, 53, slipped and hit his head on the floor when he tried to escape the blaze that engulfed a densely populated area in Barangay Damayan.
SFO2 Fortunato Alde of the Quezon City fire department said two other residents, Melanie Luteria and Nieva Salazar, were injured and an estimated P5 million worth of property went up in smoke.
The fire started at around 3:12 p.m. from the second floor of the house owned by one Baby Alinganga, Alde said, citing eyewitness accounts.
Initial investigation showed that a lighted candle left unattended may have caused the fire, he said. Alinganga’s residence had no electricity and children were seen lighting candles inside the house shortly before the fire, Alde added.
The fire also damaged the ceiling of Santuario de San Pedro parish church before it was declared under control at around 4:10 p.m., he said.