Fire breaks out in San Juan City condo

San Juan City, Metro Manila – A 45-minute-long fire hit a plush condominium in San Juan City early Sunday, with thick smoke forcing  residents out into the street.

Chief Insp. Edwin Co, San Juan City’s fire marshal said no casualties were recorded in the fire that began at 7:37 a.m. at the basement of the 21-story Strata Views condominium on P. Guevarra St. in Barangay Little Baguio, San Juan City.

Two elderly women, however, had experienced difficulty in breathing because of the thick, black smoke rising from the left portion of electrical room of the building’s basement.

“We ordered everyone inside to go out of the building to avoid suffocation. We also asked the building administrator to immediately shut down the elevators while the fire was raging,” Co said over the phone.

The fire, which had reached first alarm, was put out at exactly 8:21 a.m. before it could spread to the next room in the basement. Co said building occupants had to stay out for at least an hour more while fire investigators secured the area.

Although the probe on the cause of the fire was still ongoing, the fire marshal believed that the blaze has started from a spark  in the main switch of the electrical room, “probably because of an electrical overload.”

Arson investigators have yet to determine the estimated damage to property caused by the fire, Co said.