Malabon fire leaves 5,000 families homeless

MANILA, Philippines - More than 5,000 families lost their homes in a seven-hour fire in Barangay Catmon, Malabon City Wednesday night.

The blaze started at a water refilling station along Hernandez street shortly after 5 p.m. and spread to the adjacent Barangay Tonsuya, destroying shanties in a six-hectare area.  

No one was injured in the incident but designated evacuation centers such as the Catmon Integrated School and covered courts in the two barangays were overcrowded.

Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta III, in an emergency meeting, called on the city council to declare the two barangays under the state of calamity “so resources could be distributed to the affected families.”

The city government also sent medical teams to prevent the spread of diseases among those who sought refuge in evacuation centers.

The Malabon fire department said the blaze was put out at past midnight yesterday.

 Poor conditions 

Meanwhile, 1,000 families staying at the Delpan Sports Complex after losing their homes to a fire that broke out at the Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila Tuesday night are complaining of poor conditions.

“The comfort room stinks, there is not enough ventilation and our children are having a hard time moving,” said a 42-year-old mother of three.

Mayor Joseph Estrada said the city government would distribute construction materials to help them rebuild their homes in the next few days.

“We’re doing everything we can. Our priority is to assist these poor families,” he said a day after the fire, which left at least 3,000 families homeless.

Seven hundred other families are staying at the Delpan evacuation center, about 100 more are at the nearby Iglesia ni Cristo church and dozens sought refuge in covered basketball courts.

5 hurt in Pasay blaze

In Pasay City, five men were hurt after a fire broke out in a four-story warehouse Wednesday night, an official said yesterday.

City fire marshall Carlos Dueñas refused to name the victims, but said they suffered only minor injuries and two of them are firefighters.

The fire started at the rooftop of Ramesh Trading Corp. building along Arnaiz Avenue in Barangay 108 at around 6:30 p.m., he said.

No one was killed in the fire, estimated to have destroyed P500,000 worth of property as it reached third alarm, according to Dueñas.

The fire was put out before midnight. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire.