60 families displaced by QC fire

Some 60 families were left homeless after fire razed at least 30 houses in a squatter’s community in Quezon City over the weekend. Reports reaching the Central Fire District Office on Agham Road disclosed that the fire broke out from a house in Bgy. Escopa III in Project 4 around 6:18 p.m. Saturday and immediately engulfed other houses in the area. The fire reached the second alarm seven minutes later and quickly went up to fifth alarm around 6:30 p.m. Firemen said the blaze rapidly spread since the houses were only made of light materials, which were apparently highly flammable.

Sgt. Mariano Quirante, of the Central Fire District Office, said that no one was reported killed or injured in the fire incident, which was extinguished around 10 p.m. The cost of damage brought by the fire has yet to be estimated as of press time, Quirante added.

Investigators were still conducting further investigation to determine the exact cause of the blaze even while reports claimed that someone who was cooking prompted the fire. – Katherine Adraneda