Firefighter hurt in Malabon blaze

A volunteer firefighter from the Tondo Fire Station in Manila was injured while some 250 families lost their homes in a fire that raged for over four hours razing an estimated P5-million in property in a congested squatters community yesterday in Malabon.

The fireman, identified as Rodel Ladelar, 25, was treated for burns in the hand at the Pagamutang Lunsod ng Malabon.

FO3 Noe Bragais, officer-on-case, said the fire broke out at around 12:05 p.m. yesterday in a rented house in Celia 1 Barangay Bayan-Bayanan. The fire was declared out by 4:44 p.m. Firefighters, including those from neighboring cities of Manila and Makati, found difficulty in containing the fire due to the narrow alleys characteristic of slum communities.

Arson probers said the fire began in a house rented out by an alias "Tony Bumbay" where thick smoke was first noticed in the kitchen by alarmed neighbors. As the fire grew, an abandoned but still loaded liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank exploded sending flying fireballs that quickly spread to adjacent houses.