Navotas fire leaves 12 dead, 360 families homeless

MANILA, Philippines - Twelve people, including five children, were killed in a five-hour fire before midnight Saturday in a coastal barangay in Navotas City while the residents were preparing to celebrate their village fiesta the next day.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Zaldy Bajado of the Navotas City fire department identified the victims as Jennifer Agarin, 30, her two sons Arvy, 1, and Jessie James, 3, and her 94-year-old father-in-law William Agarin; siblings Joros Salonga, 12, Natalie, 11, and Angela, 10; cousins Gerald Blancaflor and Carlito Blancaflor; Remedios Ortellana, 62, Eric Tambor, and George Milagroso, 28.

Bajado said that 11 fatalities were all burned except for Ortellana, who suffered a heart attack at the height of the fire.

“Instead of celebrating, residents of Barangay San Roque are now mourning because of this tragic event,” Jerry Doringo, Navotas City public information officer, told The STAR.

Doringo and the Navotas City officials, led by Mayor John Rey Tiangco, went to Barangay San Roque yesterday to provide assistance to some 360 families that were rendered homeless by the fire.

“The supposed festive atmosphere because of the village fiesta today (have changed), the residents are now grieving. It’s really sad,” Doringo said.

Bajado said the Navotas City fire department received a report that the house of one of the fatalities, George Milagroso, along Leongson St. in Barangay San Roque, was on fire at around 11 p.m.

Bajado said arson investigators were still trying to determine the origin of the fire but residents suspect it was Milagroso, who was suffering from mental illness, that started the fire.

“Milagroso, the residents said, was often seen playing with matches or a lighter,” Bajado said.

Firefighters arrived at Barangay San Roque but the fire trucks had a hard time going through the narrow streets to reach the burning houses.

The blaze, compounded by strong winds, rapidly spread throughout the densely populated area where houses were made of wood and light materials.

“We have enough firefighters with at least 89 fire trucks but because the area was so crowded and hard to penetrate, it took us some three hours to control the fire,” Bajado said.

The fire was finally put out at around 4:45 a.m.

Bajado said they only recovered some of the bodies early yesterday morning.

The blaze destroyed more than a hundred houses with estimated damage to property of some P5 million.

Tiangco had put up a temporary shelter at the San Roque High School for the affected residents since the adjacent San Roque Elementary School was also partially damaged by the fire.