6 hurt as 2 fires hit Manila

MANILA, Philippines - At least six persons were injured when two fires broke out in Tondo and Sampaloc in Manila yesterday morning.

Garma sisters Grace, three; and Maria Catherine, four, suffered burns while another sister, 10-year-old Girlie Joy, suffered a brain injury after she reportedly jumped from a window when a fire broke out in Tondo at around 3:40 a.m.

The Garmas’ neighbors – Rolby, 10; and his mother, Imelda, 42 – suffered burns on at least 20 percent of their body.

SFO2 John Joseph Jalique said the fire started in a three-story residential building on Bario Roxas street owned by the Garma sisters’ mother, Cristy. Probers are verifying information that the fire stemmed from a lit candle left unattended, since the area had been without power for some time.

The fire destroyed at least 10 houses and about P1 million worth of property, leaving 20 families homeless, before it was put out at around 6 a.m. The second fire broke out at around 10:25 a.m. at the second floor of a house owned by Generosa Bagat on Gerardo street. The blaze spread to as many as 15 other houses before it was put out at around 11:44 a.m.

Melchor Balacoting, 46, suffered minor scratches as he fled from the fire. Probers are still trying to determine what caused the fire, which destroyed around P750,000 worth of property.