Fire razes 50 homes

Some 100 families lost their homes when at least 50 shanties were razed by fire at a squatters colony in Binondo, Manila last Wednesday afternoon.

There were no reports of injuries or deaths in an hour long fire which struck the heavily populated neighborhood of rag makers at around 3 p.m.

Arson investigator SFO1 Wilson Tana said the fire started at a shanty owned by one Maria Descayo. It then spread rapidly to adjacent shanties.

Firefighters had a hard time entering the fire scene due to narrow passageways which were almost blocked by the rushing crowd of evacuees.

Sporadic explosions were also heard at the height of the fire, which firefighters said came from LPG gas tanks.

The fire was finally placed under control at about 4:30 p.m. after reaching the fifth alarm.

Damage to property was placed at P5 million, while the cause of the fire is still under investigation. — Nestor Etolle