Actress-environmentalist’s house, cars razed: Chin-Chin Gutierrez hurt in fire

Actress and environmental activist Chin-Chin Gutierrez and one of her househelp were hurt in a fire that razed her house to the ground early yesterday.

Officials said Gutierrez reportedly suffered minor bruises on her arms and hands as well as minor burns on her forehead and nose for saving her mother, Cecilia. Both were taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention.

The injured househelper, whose identity was withheld, was brought to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center.

According to initial reports reaching the city’s fire department, the fire started in one of the rooms on the second floor of Gutierrez’s house in Loyola Heights subdivision in Quezon City at around 3 a.m. The blaze quickly spread and also destroyed Gutierrez’s Mitsubishi Galant sedan and Honda CRV.

"Her house was made of mixed concrete and wood. The flooring was wood and combustible. That’s why the fire spread fast," noted Senior Fire Officer 4 Jose Nagpacan, assistant chief of the Quezon City Fire Department’s investigation division.

It took at least 20 firetrucks to put out the fire, which was extinguished at around 5:18 a.m.

Nagpacan estimated that the amount of property damage would reach over a million pesos.

One of the Philippines’ most celebrated film stars, Gutierrez was named an "Asian Heroine" by Time Magazine for her environment conservation advocacy in 2003. Gutierrez runs a foundation promoting environmental awareness.

Gutierrez was scheduled to shoot a drama series in Alabang, Muntinlupa at 7 a.m. yesterday.

Close friends of the actress said the hospital where Gutierrez and her mother were taken was undisclosed because she has refused to accept visitors.

The cause of the fire was still unknown. Nagpacan said fire investigators have scheduled a meeting with Gutierrez and members of her household on Dec. 27 to ask them what happened.