Fire razes Tondo shantytown

Some 4,500 families were left homeless after a fire destroyed thousands of homes at a squatters’ colony in Tondo, Manila last Sunday night.

The blaze broke out before midnight in an impoverished shantytown at the Baseco Compound and raged for almost seven hours. No deaths were reported.

Fire Officer 2 Emmanuel Gaspar said the fire originated at the house of a certain Elizalde Eusebio at Block 14 Lot 41 at around 11:35 p.m. A tipped-over candle or gas lamp was the likely cause, officials said.

Gaspar said the blaze spread to adjacent houses, all made up of light materials like plywood. Firefighters struggled to gain access to the blaze in the overcrowded area where houses lined passageways that were too narrow for firetrucks to pass. A Navy fire boat on a nearby river assisted in the operation.

An estimated 30,000 residents and 2,500 structures were totally destroyed by the fire that was put out at 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

Firefighters from neighboring cities and towns joined those from Manila in containing the blaze. FO2 Arsenio Villarino, a firefighter from Parañaque City, was hit by an iron sheet which fell from a burning structure.

President Arroyo rushed to fire scene at 1:30 a.m. to see the extent of the damage and coordinate government efforts in helping those who were affected by the fire. She supervised the conversion of a gym into an evacuation center to accommodate the homeless, where relief goods could be distributed.

Irma Fiestada of Manila’s Department of Social Welfare and Development said residents were taken to several relocation sites, including the compound of the DPWH-NCR, the Baseco Elementary School, the compound of Iglesia ni Cristo, a barangay basketball court; a reclaimed area and a Baseco warehouse.

Fiestada said DSWD personnel and volunteers are trying to ensure that relief goods are properly distributed to affected residents.

The fire at the Baseco Compound was the third in three years. The first fire took place on Black Saturday last March 30, 2002 while the second was on March 6, 2003.