Elderly man dies after rushing back to burning house

MANILA, Philippines – A septuagenarian, who came back for some documents kept inside his burning house, lost his life in a 25-minute fire in Pasig City on Sunday morning.

Pasig firefighters found Crisanto Alabania Sr., 72, already lifeless after he was trapped in a brief fire that struck his two-story house, Fire Officer 2 Robert Maravilla, said.

The fire began at 8:50 a.m. at the victim’s house located on JV Miguel St. at the Villa Reyes Compound in Barangay Bambang, Pasig City.

The blaze reached the first alarm before firefighters managed to put it out at 9:15 a.m. The fire had quickly spread to two adjacent houses, which were made of light materials.

“The old man was outside the house when the fire began. But he came back to save some documents,” Maravilla said.

According to neighbors, the septuagenarian was strong and had no apparent illnesses prior to the fire, Maravilla said.

Arson investigators believed the man died of suffocation as he bore no burn wounds on his body.

Fire investigators placed the damage at P200,000 while the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

“We are still not sure how the fire started. We don’t want to give you mere speculations,” Maravilla said.