Sampaloc fire takes 3 homes

An hour-long fire burnt down three houses Sunday midnight in Sampaloc district in Manila, but residents thankfully survived unscathed.

Though the cause of the fire remains a puzzler, it was traced as having started at the house of Evelyn Galvez at 794 Cebu St., said investigator Emmanuel Gaspar of the Manila arson unit.

“It was a residential lot that densely packed, so the fire spread quickly,” Gaspar said, in a phone interview.

Aside from the three houses, two others were also partially burnt. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the blaze.

However, the fire left around eight to ten families homeless, and caused an estimated damage of P200,000, Gaspar said.

The fire began at 12:18 and reached third alarm before being put out at 1:18 a.m.

Gaspar said they are continuing to investigate what sparked the fire.