Family of 5 killed in Caloocan fire

MANILA, Philippines -  A family of five died when they were trapped as their house and bakery burned down in Malaria, Caloocan City before dawn yesterday.

Fire Officer 2 Noel Soriano identified the victims as Hilario Espayos, 48; his wife, Pinky, 37; and children Beverly, 15, Patrick, 13, and Brian, 11.

“Hilario and his wife Pinky, with Beverly and Brian, were found dead inside their comfort room while Patrick’s charred body was in the kitchen,” Soriano told The STAR.

Soriano said the city fire department received a call at around 2:26 a.m. claiming that the victims’ house on Nazareth street in Barangay 185 was burning.

City fire marshal Superintendent Roel Jeremy Diaz led firefighters in rushing to the area, but they found the fire had already spread all over the single-story building, which also housed a small bakery owned by the Espayos family.

It took firefighters using more than 40 fire trucks to put out the three-alarm fire, which destroyed an estimated P800,000 worth of property, at around 3:38 a.m.

Soriano said the blaze was contained within the victims’ compound, which was surrounded by a concrete fence.

“A witness claimed that the fire started in the front portion of the house, where the bakery is located. He said there was an altar in it with a lighted candle, which he believed could have started the blaze. But our arson probers are still investigating,” he said.

Soriano said there was no exit at the rear of the house, where the bedrooms were located. “The victims failed to come out for there was only one way out, that’s in between the burning living room and the bakery. The back of the house was a concrete fence,” he said.