Fire guts 130 houses in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — An unattended lighted candle triggered a fire that razed 130 houses made of light materials in Barangay Tugbungan here on Sunday, the Bureau of Fire Protection reported.

BFP arson probers said the blaze displaced 140 families living in a slum area in Sitio Bagong Dalan.

Sr. Supt. Leo Pioquinto, city fire district marshal, said the fire spread rapidly, prompting the BFP to declare a third alarm.

Pioquinto said no one was reported killed or injured in the blaze that lasted two hours before it was completely put out at Sunday midnight.

Mayor Khymer Olaso, who rushed to the fire scene, ordered the social welfare office to provide assistance and to open the school in the barangay as a temporary evacuation center.

Olaso also asked the city council to pass a resolution allowing the city government to use the isolation centers utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic as temporary relocation sites.

“The number of affected families is overwhelming and we need to provide them with decent shelter before they can eventually relocate to the formal housing units,” Olaso said.

Initial investigation showed that the fire started from an unattended lighted candle at a house owned by a certain Sardan Ayuda.