Lucena fire leaves 5 families homeless

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—At least five families were left homeless after a fire of still unknown origin destroyed their residential units inside the building of a former hospital here early dawn Friday, a fire official said.

Senior Inspector Joel Reyes, Lucena fire chief, said the fire at the former Alzona hospital building in Barangay (village) 1 started around 2:45 a.m.

The fire chief said the whole building was burned down that included four of its former hospital rooms which were converted by the owner into residential units.

Reyes said another residential house at the back of the building was also gutted down. The firemen estimated the cost of fire damage to P1 million.

At around 4:30 a.m., local firemen assisted by firefighters from Pagbilao town and Tayabas City successfully controlled the blaze from spreading to the adjacent Quezon Medical Center and rows of nearby residential houses.

The fire official said one person suffered injuries during the fire and was rushed to the nearby hospital.