Kids toying with matches started Cavite fire – report

Residents of Barangay Maliksi 3 in Bacoor City, Cavite salvages anything of value from their burnt houses on Thursday, April 6, 2017 after a fire razes 450 houses and affected 2000 families. Grig C. Montegrande/INQUIRER

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna — Investigation into the fire that left 1,000 families homeless in a coastal community in Bacoor City, Cavite revealed that children allegedly playing with matches started the blaze, a fire official said on Thursday.

Police also revised their report, stating that 1,000 families and not just individuals, lost their homes to the fire.

The city fire marshal, Supt. Robert Pacis, said the four-hour fire in Barangay Maliksi 3 started at past 4 p.m. Wednesday in the house of a certain Raffy Una.

“Children were allegedly playing with matches, which led to the big fire,” he said.

He said the fire quickly spread since there was no concrete structure to block the fire. The wind was strong enough to help spread the fire, Pacis said.

The fire reached the fifth alarm and was put out around 8 p.m.

A report from the Bureau of Fire Protection said around 600 houses, mostly made of light materials, were burned, forcing 1,000 families to seek temporary shelter at the Maliksi elementary school.

The city government has distributed food and water to the victims while possible relocation is being considered, according to Pacis.

Pacis said police investigation into the fire was ongoing, as of this posting. Losses to the fire were placed at P500,000. No one was hurt in the fire, local authorities said.  SFM/rga