A fire that broke out in an Antipolo City neighborhood Thursday night engulfed three homes and the city library, while damaging parts of the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office.
Senior Fire Officer 1 Gerardo Lopez on Friday said the fire, whose cause was not immediately known, started from the second floor of the house of Francisco Samson on Lopez Jaena Street in Barangay San Jose around 9:45 p.m.
It spread to two more houses made of light materials and then to a government building housing the Comelec office on the first floor and the city library on the second.
Only the ceiling and the backdoor of the Comelec office were damaged by the fire, but stacks of documents were soaked, including lists of voters. These and other Comelec documents were temporarily moved to city hall.
The library and its collection of books were destroyed, according to FO2 Allan Ante, one of the responding firemen.
Hampered by narrow streets and thick crowds, firefighters took about three hours to put out the fire. No one was reported hurt and damage to property was estimated at P200,000. Kristine Felisse Mangunay