Neighborhood fire spreads to Comelec office in Antipolo

MANILA—Flames leaping from a neigboring cluster of houses that were on fire damaged the Commission on Elections office in Antipolo City Thursday night.

The authorities said they still had to determine the cause of the fire, which began at 9:45 p.m., but they had found no indication thus far that it had been deliberately started.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Gerardo Lopez, arson investigator, said they were looking at the possibility that the fire, which broke out on the second floor of the house of one Francisco Samson on Lopez Jaena Street  in Barangay San Jose, broke out as a result of a candle left unattended.

According to F02 Allan Ante, one of the responding firemen, the flames quickly spread to two adjacent houses, which were also made of light materials, and finally spread to the local Comelec office, located on the first story of a building in front of the residential area.

The local Comelec office had a fire wall, he said, causing the flames to leap instead to the second floor of the building where the Antipolo City library was housed. The library was gutted and its books destroyed, he said.

While only the ceiling and the back door of the local Comelec office were damaged by the fire, official documents were soaked with water coming from the firemen’s hoses, Ante said.

In a television interview, Melvin Quiliron who works there said that among the documents damaged are the precinct voters’ list. The documents have been temporarily transferred to the city hall.

Local Comelec employees have so far not been allowed inside the office as authorities continues with their investigation.

Investigators estimated the damage to property at P200,000.

The fire, which reached the second alarm, was declared out at 12:15 a.m. Friday.

Lopez said firemen had a difficult time reaching the fire scene because of the area’s narrow streets, which were crowded with people.