Mandaluyong blaze kills 3 boarders

STARTING FROM SOOTY SCRATCH One of the residents who lost their homes in Saturday’s fire in Barangay Greater Greater Lagro, West Fairview, in Quezon City tries to salvage roofing sheets and other materials from the ruins. ARNOLD ALMACEN

Three people were killed in Mandaluyong City while around 60 Quezon City families were left homeless in fires that broke out just hours apart early Saturday.

The fatalities in Mandaluyong were identified as Wendell Cabanglan, 23, Dandy Gagarin, 27, and Ryan Lopez, 28, all boarders in a house engulfed by flames on Lion’s Road, Barangay Ilaya, around 1 a.m.

The fire of still unknown cause was put out after an hour and before it could spread to neighboring structures. Damage to property was estimated at P500,000.

One of the residents recounted what may have been the victims’ last screams for help.

JP Orap said he was watching TV when he heard shouts coming from the boarding house owned by Jojie Pangilinan and thought the tenants were just having an argument. Orap went out and saw thick smoke coming from the roof of the house, which also hosted an eatery.

Fire Officer 2 Cesar Sabare said the three victims apparently died from suffocation. Two of them were found in the laundry room while the third was found in the bathroom, he said.

Four other boarders—Rene Riego de Dios, Francis Agburis, Eugenio Austria and Rizaldy Subebe Jr.—managed to escape through a small opening in the ceiling, Sabare said.

In Quezon City, another fire which started at 7:50 a.m. destroyed a neighborhood in Barangay Greater Lagro, West Fairview.

No one was reported hurt but around 60 families lost their homes in the blaze which reportedly started from the house of Hilda Aurelio on Lilac Street.

The fire was declared out shortly before 9 a.m., with the cost of the damage placed at P750,000.