Report: Predawn fire razes houses in Manila

Several families were rendered homeless after a row of houses in Manila's Sampaloc district was razed in by a predawn fire Saturday. Radio dzBB's Roland Bola reported the fire started at 2:30 a.m. and reached the fifth alarm before firefighters put it out at 4:10 a.m. No one was initially reported hurt in the fire along Magsaysay Boulevard in Sampaloc. Arson investigators are still looking into what caused the fire. Meanwhile, an L-300-type van caught fire on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue in Cubao, Quezon City Friday night. A dzBB report quoted van driver Ojay Decena as saying he was on his way home after watching a basketball game when he noticed smoke from the underside of the van (CHJ-651). He said he asked for help from nearby Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic aides to put out the fire. — LBG, GMANews.TV