P1.5M lost, 120 families affected in 3-hour fire in QC

A RESIDENT of Santolan Road in Barangay Valencia, Quezon City, goes back to his house to see if any of his possessions survived the fire which left 120 families homeless. Leo M. Sabangan

Around 120 families lost their houses in a three-hour fire caused by a gas lamp on Saturday night in Quezon City.

The blaze gutted 40 homes, destroying some P1.5 million worth of property on Santolan Road, Barangay (village) Valencia, in New Manila.

According to Quezon City fire marshal Supt. Jesus Fernandez  of the Quezon City Fire District, the fire started around 11 p.m. on Saturday in a three-story house at 62 Santolan Road owned by Irma Goong.

Fernandez said that Goong apparently left a lighted gas lamp unattended at the second floor of her house. “It may have been accidentally toppled over by a cat. She [Goong] told us that she left the gas lamp on the table near a plate of food,” he added.

Asked why she was using a lamp, the fire official said that Goong’s house had been without power for around a month.

Fernandez said the flames quickly spread throughout the house and other neighboring structures since these were made of light materials. There were no reported deaths or injuries due to the blaze.

Responding firemen put out the fire around 2 a.m. on Sunday after it reached Task Force Alpha.