Girl dead in Las Piñas fire

A 16-year-old girl died and some P1 million worth of property were destroyed when a fire broke out inside a residential house in Las Piñas City early yesterday morning.

The Las Piñas Fire Department said Jenny Rose Ocampo was the lone fatality while her uncle, Braulio Bedico, sustained second degree burns at the back and arms and is reportedly now confined at the Las Piñas District Hospital.

The fire, which started at the living room of the one-story residence was reported at 12:47 a.m. and was put out before 2 a.m.

It totally gutted Bedico’s house located at 14 Sweetpea Street, Doña Manuela Subdivision, Barangay Pamplona 2, Las Piñas and damaged the roof of two adjoining houses. Two of Bedico’s tricycles were also destroyed.

SPO3 Noel Consignado of the Las Piñas Fire Department, said that Ocampo saw the ceiling fan in the living room on fire and immediately alerted her relatives.

"The ceiling fan was reportedly defective and Bedico’s son forgot to turn it off, causing it to overheat, thus triggering the fire," said Consignado.

He added that the victim could have escaped the fire had she not returned to her room to retrieve an unknown object. "She was trapped, there was no exit. She could not pass through her window because it was blocked by grills."— Evelyn Macairan