Children playing with candles cause Valenzuela fire

MANILA, Philippines - A fire that gutted three houses in Barangay Palasan, Valenzuela City at past noon yesterday was caused by two brothers playing with a lit candle, according to officials.

The boys (ages five and seven) got out of the house unharmed but four people, including their father and grandmother, were hurt in the blaze.

Superintendent Mel Lagan, city fire marshal, said the siblings were left in the house with only their 77-year-old grandmother looking after them.

The boys were playing with candles and matches in a bedroom in their two-story house when a lit candle fell on the clothes, which caught fire at about 12:50 p.m.

The children’s father saw the blaze and rescued his sons. A mute, the father could not shout, but he called his neighbor’s attention, officials said.

The fire spread quickly to two other houses. Authorities pegged the property damage at P175,000.

All firetrucks in Valenzuela responded to the scene, said Fire Officer 2 John Noel Sentillas. Lagan declared the fire put out at 1:30 p.m.

Sentillas said three of the victims sustained minor burns. The boys’ father sustained third-degree burns on his hands, Lagan said.