300 families homeless in Old Balara fire; woman missing

MOCK tablets of the Ten Commandments on a chapel’s wall remained untouched by the fire which hit Barangay Matandang Balara in Quezon City, on Wednesday morning. Lyn Rillon

A short circuit in the electrical connection may have caused the nearly two-hour fire which left around 300 families homeless in Barangay Matandang Balara, Quezon City, Wednesday morning.

This was the information provided by Quezon City fire marshal Supt. Jesus Fernandez who said the blaze which broke out in a community of informal settlers on Zuzuarregui Street started in the house of Imelda Canalda.

According to Fernandez, Canalda was renting out rooms to several tenants, including Bea in whose room the fire began.

Bea has yet to be accounted for at press time, he added.

The fire which started at 9:27 a.m. razed around 100 houses and reached Task Force Bravo before it was put out at 11:15 a.m. Damage to property was estimated at around P1.5 million.