40 houses destroyed in Pasig fire

MANILA, Philippines—A two-hour-long fire razed some 40 houses in Pasig City on Sunday, leaving P2 million worth of property destroyed.

Authorities recorded no casualty. The fire, which began around 10:15 a.m. from a unit being rented by a certain Magdalena de Guia on Industria St. in Barangay (village) Kapasigan, Pasig City.

Destroyed were rows of two-story apartments, reportedly owned by Victor Co who was leasing them to some 100 families, Fire Officer 2 Robert Maravilla, arson investigator, said.

The blaze had reached third alarm in half an hour before firefighters managed to put it out at 11: 54 a.m.

“The houses were not ordinary apartments, which usually had firewall. These were made of light and combustible materials,” Maravilla said.

Maravilla said it took a while for the tenants to report the fire as they tried to control it with an extinguisher.

“At first, they thought it was controllable. But they realized the fire had apparently gutted an entire apartment and crossed over to the next unit,” he said.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated as of Sunday afternoon, as the possible clues – cables, wires, appliance—inside De Guia’s apartment had been destroyed, Maravilla said.

He said no one was at home when the fire struck.

Arson investigators estimated the damage to property at P2 million.