4 killed, families lose homes in predawn Parañaque fires

A retired teacher and three minors were killed while some 20 families lost their homes in two predawn fires that hit Parañaque City Wednesday. Radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported the bodies of the four fatalities were recovered at the house along Hernandez Street in San Antonio Valley 10. The retired teacher was initially identified as Venus Bacolod, while the three others were described as 16, 12, and 10 years old. A separate report by dzBB's Manny Vargas quoted firefighters as theorizing the victims' bodies may have fallen from the second floor of the wooden house owned by Bacolod. An initial investigation showed the fire started at 2:58 a.m. and was placed under control shortly before 4 a.m. A separate report on dzRH radio said the fire reached the second alarm. Before the deadly fire, another fire hit a residential area between 7th and 8th Streets in Santo Niño village at 1 a.m. The first fire, which started at the house of one Erlinda Cruz, occurred near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor). Wednesday's predawn fires followed a fire in Makati City that left at least two people dead early Tuesday, and another earlier fire in a residential area of Quezon City that left some 5,000 families homeless. — LBG, GMA News