Fire destroys 200 homes in Quezon City slum

MANILA, Philippines—Residents of a densely populated slum area in Quezon City were busy preparing for lunch Wednesday when a fire broke out in the neighborhood, sending everyone into a panic.

Quezon City fire marshal, Senior Superintendent Bobby Baruelo, said that based on initial reports, the blaze which displaced as many as 500 families may have been caused by an unattended cooking stove.

Fortunately, no deaths or injuries were reported in the fire which broke out at 11:44 a.m. in the three-story house owned by Cristina Abella at the corner of Araneta and Victory Avenues in Barangay Tatalon.

Flames were first spotted on the ground floor of Abella’s house, Baruelo said.

He added that from there, the blaze spread to nearby houses, most of which were made of light materials.

The fire reached Task Force Alpha before it was placed under control at 12:35 p.m.

By the time it was put out at 1:50 p.m., it had destroyed around 200 houses and about P2 million worth of property, Baruelo told the Inquirer.

Though an investigation was ongoing, he said that an unattended faulty stove or liquefied petroleum gas tank could have caused the fire.

“Someone could have been cooking and left the stove unattended,” Baruelo said.

Several fires resulting in the loss of millions of pesos worth of property have been reported this month, including the 82-hour blaze which gutted the Ever Gotesco Grand Central mall in Caloocan City.