100 families homeless in QC fire traced to overheating fan

LOSING BATTLEA Barangay Botocan resident tries to help firefighters save his Quezon City neighborhood on Friday. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

An electric fan that overheated reportedly caused the fire that left two persons injured and about 100 families homeless in a slum area in Quezon City on Friday morning.

Supt. Jesus Fernandez, the Quezon City fire marshal, said the fire started at the two-story house of Concepcion Patricio, 55, and spread across a community of informal settlers in Area 7, Barangay Botocan.

Concepcion and her 21-year-old son Patty sustained first-degree burns, Fernandez said.

The fire which started around 8 a.m. reached the fifth alarm—an alert status requiring at least 19 firetrucks —and was declared out an hour later. Damage to property was estimated at P300,000.

Residents interviewed by Radyo Inquirer pointed to Patricio’s house, where they said an electric fan that was operating on the second floor emitted smoke and then caught fire.

The blaze destroyed at least 50 houses, according to the Quezon City Fire Department. The displaced families were given temporary shelter at a covered basketball court. Erika Sauler; Jan Escosio, Radyo Inquirer