Manaoag school hit by fire on class opening

DAGUPAN CITY — Pupils of Pao Elementary School at Manaoag town in Pangasinan province held classes at the school’s covered court on Tuesday, after a fire gutted their classrooms on the first day of classes on Monday.

The fire began at 5:30 p.m. and razed six classrooms, a guidance office and the library, according to FO1 Philip Abrazaldo, spokesperson for the town’s Bureau of Fire Protection station.

No one was reported hurt in the 40-minute fire. Arson investigators had yet to determine the cause but witnesses said the fire started from one of the rooms. —Gabriel Cardinoza