2 fires break out in Pasay; 1 killed, dozens lose homes

MANILA, Philippines—Two separate fires broke out in the wee hours of New Year’s Day in Pasay City, killing one man and displacing dozens of residents who spent Sunday morning sifting through what remained of their houses to salvage any of their belongings, the local fire marshal said.

Chief Inspector Douglas Guiyab, however, refrained from linking the fires at Pildera Street and at T. Villanueva Street to the use of firecrackers in the revelry, saying that both fires were still “under investigation” as of this posting.

The raging fire on T. Villanueva Street gobbled at least 40 houses, and lasted nearly three hours because firefighters had trouble getting access to the site of the blaze due to the narrow alleys, according to the fire official.

At around 5 a.m. Sunday, firefighters managed to put the blaze under control and extinguished it completely before sunrise. No casualties were recorded in the fire.

Guiyab has yet to make an official estimate on the damage wrought by the fire, which gutted down at least 40 houses

While the smoke billowed at the site of the first fire incident, another blaze broke out at a residential area along Pildera Street, Guiyab said.

The Pildera fire reached the fourth alarm status before firefighters doused the blaze at 5:36 a.m.

Guiyab said a body of a man was taken out from the fire and was identified as that of 27-year-old Danny Lipata.  But an autopsy was still being done on the body to verify the cause of death.

The official estimated that the Pildera fire, which was near the house of former city mayor Wenceslao Trinidad, torched P5 million worth of property. Some 30 houses were burned to the ground.