2 fires hit Makati business district

MANILA, Philippines - Makati City firefighters had their hands full as two separate fires broke out one after the other yesterday morning.

The first fire started at around 10 a.m., razing shanties at a slum area in the Botanical Garden Compound along Urban Avenue in Barangay Pio del Pilar, near the Makati Medical Center.

As the firefighters were still struggling to control the blaze, another fire hit a residential building at the corner of Kamagong and Bagtikan streets in nearby Barangay San Antonio at past 11 a.m.

The slum area fire left at least 300 families homeless. Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, who rushed to the scene, said the displaced families would be relocated temporarily to a site near the Skyway.

The fire at the slum area, which had reached the general alarm just before 11 a.m., was put out at around 1 p.m.

Firefighters put out the fire at Barangay San Antonio at past 1 p.m. Binay said firefighters rescued three residents who were trapped on the building’s rooftop.

Officials said there are yet no reports on those injured in the two fires. Arson investigators have yet to determine what caused the fires as well as the amount of damage they caused.