Malabon fire renders 600 families homeless

Some 600 families lost their homes when a four-hour fire blamed on a candle that had tipped over broke out in a squatters’ colony shortly after midnight yesterday in Malabon City.

Fire Officer 2 Rogelio Maglonso said the fire started at 12:15 a.m. on the second floor of a house owned by Elenita Faro. The flames quickly spread, destroying more than 200 houses before firemen were able to put it out at 4:15 a.m.

The damage was initially estimated at P1.5 million.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Reyes, Malabon City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) chief, said Maglonso, a fireman from the neighboring town of Navotas, and one Edgar Hibaya, 27, sustained minor burns during the blaze on C-4 Road in Barangay Tañong.

Malabon City arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 1 Joseph Gatchalian said the Faro family used candles after authorities cut off illegally connected power lines in their area a few days ago.

The affected families are temporarily sheltered at Tañong Elementary School, which was also nearly destroyed by the fire if not for the firemen’s swift response.

The Malabon City government and the local Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) sent yesterday relief goods to the fire victims.

A team from the City Health Office was also deployed to look after the wellbeing of the residents affected by the fire.

Last March 8, hundreds of families also lost their homes when a fire caused by an illegal power connection broke out in another squatters’ colony in Barangay Potrero, also in Malabon City.

The fire also resulted in the death of an elderly couple, Larry and Sion Chua. – Pete Laude and Jerry Botial with Lance Ember Molina