Cat triggers fire in Tondo; hundreds homeless

MANILA, Philippines—A cat left nearly 300 families homeless in Tondo early Saturday after it accidentally overturned a kerosene lamp and, aided by a strong wind from Manila Bay, set a whole neighborhood on fire, the authorities said.

Inspector Shiela Tantiado, San Nicolas fire substation commander, said that at around 1:31 a.m. Saturday a cat staying in the Warain family’s residence at Gate 20, Barangay 20 in the Parola compound brushed against a kerosene lamp on top of a TV set, causing it to tip over and ignite a fire that quickly spread through the neighborhood.

The fire, which destroyed at least P1 million worth of property, razed at least 140 houses made of light materials and left 280 families homeless, the authorities said.

Cristina Cabrera, 22, said that the blaze would not have happened if the male occupants of the Warain house had not panicked and quickly put out the fire after the cat toppled the kerosene lamp.

“The men panicked and rushed outside after the lamp set on fire the room they were staying in,” said Cabrera, a mother of five and a godsister to one of the Warain residents.

She added that if she hadn’t been awake at the time attending to her four-month-old baby who was crying, both of them would have burned to death.

Tantiado said the fire lasted for almost five hours because responders had a hard time getting inside Parola compound due to a traffic jam. The fire was also aggravated by strong wind.

The dozen residents of the Warain house, according to Cabrera, fled to Pampanga shortly after the fire for fear that their neighbors, now staying at the Delpan Evacuation Center, would gang up on them.

Among those in the evacuation center was the Soria family.

Marivic Soria, a resident of Parola since 1986, said she was not able to save anything from her house as she was working that night in Divisoria.

However, her son Noel was able to save two washing machines from his house which was a couple of houses down Marivic’s. Unfortunately though, there’s nothing left to wash as Noel and his wife Analiza weren’t able to save any clothes except the ones they were wearing.

Tantiado said that there were no reported deaths or injuries from the fire.