2 dead, 1 hurt in Navotas fire

MANILA, Philippines - At least two persons died while another one was injured during a predawn fire in Navotas City yesterday.

Fire Officer 1 Celso Alivio said Richard Gonzales, 40; and Boy Tizon, 49, were already dead when they were found in their two-story house at the corner of Kalantiao and M. Naval streets in Barangay Daang Hari.

Alivio said the fire started at around 1:27 a.m. at the second floor of the victims’ house and it quickly spread to two other houses.

One of the residents, Lorenzo Fernandez, 50, was hit by burning debris at the height of the fire and was immediately brought to the Navotas community clinic.

“The blaze was contained before it could cause more damage… M. Naval is a wide street, making it easy for the firefighters to penetrate the burning area,” Alivio told The STAR.

The blaze was declared under control at about 2:30 a.m. and was finally put out around an hour later.

Alivio said that only three houses were destroyed but set the damage at around P3 million “for these are all two-story buildings,” noting that the area is residential “with nice concrete houses.”

City arson probers were still trying to determine yesterday the exact cause of the fire.