Family of 3 die in Pasig fire; electrical connection blamed

Update

A family of three died in an early morning fire on Monday in Pasig City.

Probers said an overloaded electrical connection could have sparked the fire.

The blaze that hit the Chan family’s residence at Sikap Compound in Barangay Kalawaan at around 2:30 a.m. occurred just three days after a fire in nearby Barangay Palatiw killed four persons.

The arson investigator, SFO1 Robert Maravilla, said the fire started on the ground floor of the Chan family’s wood-and-concrete house. He added that the fire might have been caused by the overloaded electrical connection and poor installation of wiring in the two-story house.

Maravilla said the circuit breakers installed in the house were not inside the fuse box. He added that the family owned a number of appliances, such as an air-conditioning unit, two refrigerators and a number of electric fans.

He surmised that the frequent use of the electric fans and air conditioner because of the searing heat over the last few days might have contributed to the overloading of the electrical connection.

Authorities found the burned bodies of Rosario Chan, 72; Constancia Chan, 50; and Benedict Chan, 21, nearly an hour after the fire was quelled. Rosario was Constancia’s mother, while Benedict was her grandson. The three victims were staying on the second floor but were found on the ground floor after the wooden ceiling collapsed because of the blaze.

Maravilla said that the family’s neighbors still saw Constancia and Benedict waving for help but were unable to rescue them because of the locks in the house. He added that the family used  a lot of locks in the house, which had a convenience store on the ground floor, after it was robbed on several occasions.

An estimated P300,000 worth of property was lost in the fire, which only reached the first alarm.

On Friday, Fidel Lacia, Enrique Sanchez, four-year-old Jerra Mhiel Peligro and two-year-old Joanne Faye Peligro died in nearby Barangay Palatiw in a blaze believed to have been caused either by an illegal electrical connection or by a lit candle.  SFM