3 kids killed in fire

HOME ALONE

THREE children who were home alone were killed when a fire broke out shortly before midnight yesterday in a community of illegal settlers in Pasay City, according to a fire official.

City fire marshal Douglas Guiyab said that six other people were injured in the blaze which destroyed rows of shanties on F B Harrison Street and left some 100 families homeless.

He identified the fatalities as John Jason Alberca, 2; John Angelo Alberca, 2; and Chris Alberca, 3.

Mother out on an errand

Guiyab said that the children’s mother had gone out of the house to buy medicine and left the three sleeping boys by themselves.

By the time she got back, her house was already up in flames.

The fire reached the fourth alarm before firefighters extinguished the flames at 2:50 a.m. on Sunday.

At press time, arson investigators were still trying to determine what caused the blaze although Guiyab said it may have been caused by an unattended lit candle.

He added that before the fire broke, there was no electricity in the area and a lot of people were using candles for lighting.

Guiyab said that the flames quickly spread from house to house because most of the structures in the area were made of light materials.

Reminder to public

He reminded the public to exercise caution whenever they use candles and to keep these away from flammable items.

Personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection have been conducting information campaign in several fire-prone areas in the metropolis as part of their efforts to help prevent blazes in line with March being Fire Prevention Month.