Unattended stove causes six-hour fire in Parañaque

A female engrossed with gossip allegedly caused a six-hour fire that displaced around 1,000 families on Friday evening in Parañaque City, the local fire department said.

Senior Fire Officer 1 Jesus Bayani Jr., the city’s arson investigator, said they conducted a follow-up investigation yesterday and discovered that the fire at Alarcon Village, Sucat Intersection, Barangay BF started from the house of a certain Leslie Empic.

"The blaze came from the house of Empic, who is the secretary of the treasurer of Alarcon Village’s homeowner’s association. She was allegedly cooking but left her stove to talk to a friend," Bayani said.

The residents said this was not the first time Empic’s negligence caused a fire in the neighborhood. In 2001, her house was reportedly also almost gutted by fire had her neighbors not helped put out the blaze.

The fire officer said a resident in the area, identified as Bernard Aminasion, 25, sustained minor abrasions on both hands and laceration on the palms as he tried to save his family’s belongings.