No one was reported killed or injured in the fire, which destroyed some 50 houses at Banlat Road in Barangay Tandang Sora shortly after midnight Thursday, deputy fire marshal Superintendent Samuel Tadeo said.
The blaze began at 12:58 a.m. at the two-storey house of Clarita Belarmino, 62, at 228 Banlat Road, Tadeo said.
“We are looking at the possibility that an unattended lit candle may have caused the fire, since the house reportedly had no electricity and that the occupants used candles for illumination,” he said.
The fire reached the second alarm at 1:06 a.m. and hit the fourth alarm minutes later at 1:13 a.m.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and managed to place the fire under control at 1:58 a.m. It was finally put out at 2:07 a.m.