2 hurt, 200 houses gutted by fire in Zamboanga City neighborhood

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—A firefighter and an elderly woman were wounded in Wednesday evening’s major fire that gutted some 200 houses on Riles Drive in Barangay Lower Calarian here, authorities said.

Both victims were being treated in a hospital here.

Supt. Dominador Zabala Jr., the city fire marshal, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that firefighters had a hard time putting out the fire that started 7:05 p.m. as people rushed toward safer areas

Zabala said it took firefighters more than four hours to put the conflagration under control.

He said aside from the commotion, the lack of water prolonged the efforts to put the fire under control.

“(The) hydrants in (Sitio) Campo Islam had no water so we had to make trips to nearby Suterville to get water,” Zabala said, without specifying the distance between the two areas.

Even residents said the fire could have been subdued early had there been water coming out of hydrants and faucets.

“The residents tried to put it out when it was just starting but there was no water,” a resident said.

Zabala said the fire damaged an estimated P5 million in properties.

The affected families were now temporarily housed at the nearby John Spirig Elementary School.