120 families left homeless in Makati fire

MANILA, Philippines - Some 120 families were left homeless in a fire that struck two urban poor areas in Barangay Cembo and Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo in Makati City Thursday night.

The Makati fire department said the fire started at about 5:16 p.m. at the second floor of a shanty owned by a certain Rose Reniva in Barangay Cembo. Strong winds then fanned the flames toward more shanties in nearby Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo.

Arson investigator Senior Inspector Tito Purgatorio said 40 houses made of light materials were razed in the fire, leaving some 100 families homeless. Twenty more families were left homeless when 12 houses were destroyed in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo.

According to the Makati Fire Department, the two urban poor communities are separated by a creek.

The fire reached Task Force Bravo before it was put out by firefighters at 6:45 p.m. Arson investigators have yet to find out what caused the fire as well as estimate the worth of the properties destroyed.