5 kids, rescuer die in Quiapo blaze
Five children and a 30-year-old man who tried to save them died in a fire in Quiapo, Manila Wednesday night.
Alicia Dacu’s three children – Jamaica, 2; Jamila, 8; and Jamaila, 9 – and their cousins Baby Love Sampaco, 10, and Gerald, 9, were trapped in their house along Arlegui street when the fire started at past 8 p.m., firefighters said.
Michael Ramos died trying to save the children, according to probers. He was found still clutching one of the children.
The fire also destroyed a nearby five-story building, leaving 50 families homeless.
Dacu, who was working as a saleslady in a shop along Villalobos Street, said she was on her way home when she saw the blaze and thought it was the Manuel Luis Quezon University that was burning.
She said she left the children with her mother and sister.
Neighbors tried but failed to save the children, firefighters said.
Senior Superintendent Reden Alumno, arson investigator, said they are looking at faulty wiring as a possible cause of the blaze “but we are not discounting other angles.”
The fire reached second alarm and was put under control around 11:30 p.m.
Alumno said they are still trying to determine the damages.
200 families left homeless in Taguig
A fire of still unknown origin broke out at a community near a mall in Taguig City Wednesday afternoon, leaving 200 families homeless.
The fire started in a rented room made of light materials at Zone 7, Mini-Park in Bonifacio Global City at past 5 p.m., arson investigators said.
No one was reported killed, but at least three men were hurt while around 60 houses were destroyed.
It took 20 fire trucks before the fire was put out before 7 p.m., arson investigators said.
The families affected by the fire sought shelter at a nearby basketball court and barangay halls.
2 fires hit QC
In Quezon City, a scrap paper warehouse and nine houses in a residential area were destroyed in separate fires on Wednesday night.
Arson investigators reported that P500,000 worth of property was destroyed in the fire that broke out at a onestory building of Bataan 2020 Inc. along Quirino Highway in Barangay Baesa.
The warehouse fire started at around 5 p.m. at its alternate exit. It quickly reached third alarm.
Though the blaze was put under control at around 8 p.m., firefighters reported that the fire was put out at around 11 p.m.
The second fire broke out at the third-floor bedroom of Violeta Huertar’s home along Maunlad street in Barangay Pinyahan at around 6:12 p.m. and spread to eight other houses, affecting 18 families.
Fire officials said the blaze caused P90,000 in structural damages.
No casualty was reported in both fires.