Blaze terrifies Sampaloc folk

Terror gripped residents and firemen alike yesterday during a one-and-a-half hour fire in an apartment building owned by the husband of Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chair Armida Siguion-Reyna when it raged dangerously, sandwiched between a gasoline station and a school in Sampaloc, Manila.

Two persons where seriously injured.

Firemen raised alarm level Task Force Bravo although the blaze gutted only a portion of the dilapidated wooden two-story building, fearing it could rage out of control and reach the adjacent gasoline station and Arellano High School, on Lerma street in Sampaloc.

"It was decided that the fire alarm be raised to a high level so that the fire could be immediately controlled. All firetrucks in Manila were called in," said Manila arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 1 Wilson Balaba.

Damage to property was pegged at only P300,000 since what was gutted were abandoned apartment units. There were only four families residing in the 500 square-meter apartment building, another was unaffected said Balaba.

Those injured were identified as Marilou Panganiban, 22, and Lawrence Fabro, 25, both students, who reportedly jumped from the second floor of the building. Panganiban sustained fractures in her right forearm and hip while Fabro's injuries were not specified. They were taken to the Orthopedic and Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, respectively.

The cause of the fire which reportedly started in one of the abandoned units at about 12:56 a.m. is being investigated. It was extinguished at 2:23 a.m.