Parañaque fire leaves 600 families homeless

Another fire hit a residential area in Parañaque City Sunday night, leaving some 600 families of informal settlers homeless.

No one was reported injured or killed in the fire that gutted some 200 shanties at the Lim Compound in Manggahan, Barangay San Dionisio.

This was the second fire to hit the city over the weekend, with both incidents reaching the general alarm.

The fire at the Lim Compound reportedly started at 7 p.m. and reached the general alarm in 30 minutes.

City fire marshall, Superintendent Leonides Perez, said the fire allegedly started from an electric post in front of the house of a certain Nilda Galapin.

A witness told fire investigators that he saw a spark coming from an electric meter before it burst into flames and quickly engulfed the post.

The fire rapidly spread to the houses, most of which were made of combustible materials. Perez said arson was a remote possibility in the latest fire although the incident is still under investigation.

Last Saturday, a fire razed several commercial establishments and residential houses in Don Galo.

The fire reportedly originated from a lumber warehouse and among those who lost their homes were former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Alma de Leon and prominent lawyer Leonard de Vera.

Perez said the fire may have been due to faulty electrical wiring based on the affidavits of witnesses.

The city fire marshall added that while there was an ongoing feud involving the family that owned the warehouse, arson was not a possible motive.

"The warehouse was insured for only P3 million and the property damage reached more than that," Perez said.

Earlier this month, another fire razed to the ground several squatter shanties in Malacañang Dulo, Barangay Don Bosco in the city. – Nikko Dizon