Two fires broke out separately in Metro Manila on Monday, destroying more than 50 houses. The first started shortly after midnight and destroyed P5 million worth of property in Pasig City.
According to Fire Officer 3 Carlito Bañez, one of the responding firemen, the blaze was reported around 12:25 a.m. in the two-story residence of lawyer Dominador Asperilla on San Agustin Street, Capitol 8 Subdivision. Arson investigator FO3 Robert Maravilla said the fire began in a bedroom on the second floor before it spread to the adjacent rooms and engulfed the structure.
Bañez said no other houses were damaged by the fire. He added authorities did not have a hard time penetrating the area as the roads leading there were “wide enough” for the responding fire trucks. The blaze, which reached the second alarm, was declared out at 1:26 a.m. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire but they are looking at the possibility of electrical overload or overheating, Maravilla said. No one was reported hurt in the incident.
In Tondo, Manila, some 50 houses made of concrete and wood materials were destroyed when a blaze broke out at 1:30 p.m. from the second floor of the house of Marco Aguilar at 695-G Interior 1 Laguna Extension. SFO3 John Joseph Jalique, arson investigator of the Manila Fire Bureau, said the fire reached the fifth alarm before it was declared under control at 2:53 p.m. It was put out at 3:26 p.m.
The cost of damage was placed at P5 million while the cause is still under investigation. As in the Pasig fire, no one was reported hurt or killed.—Erika Sauler and Kristine Felisse Mangunay