60 houses gutted, boy hurt in Pasig fire

A three-hour fire hit a squatter colony in Pasig City over the weekend, injuring a two-year-old boy and rendering some 120 families homeless.

Damage to property was placed at P1 million.

The victim, Mohammad Ali Acbar, was traced by arson investigators to a nearby city satellite clinic in Barangay Pinagbuhatan. He sustained second-degree burns on his genitals.

Arson prober FO3 Zacarias Manaog said they are still determining how Acbar was injured and what triggered the fire in the flooded barangay.

Initial reports showed that the fire started at around 2:15 p.m. along Soriano and Baltazar Street, in Barangay Sto. Tomas. The area continues to be under five-feet of floodwaters since typhoon Seniang hit the country last Nov. 3.

"Not even the floodwaters could prevent the fire because the shanties were made of light combustible materials," said Manaog.

Strong winds fanned the fire towards adjoining houses also made of light materials, he said.

Some 60 houses were gutted by the fire.

Firemen complained of difficulty in fighting the fire because their trucks could not get through the narrow passages. The firefighters had to wade through floodwaters to get to the fire scene.

Those displaced by the fire are now staying at the Sto. Tomas Elementary School.

At least 15 firetrucks from Pasig and nearby cities and municipalities battled the fire for three hours.