Fire razes residential area, 800 families lose homes

At least one person was hurt and hundreds of families lost their homes as P10 million went up in smoke in a fire that razed 1,200 houses in a residential area in Quezon City Wednesday night. The fire started at 7:23 p.m. at Barangay Culiat in Quezon City and reached Task Force Bravo before it was put out past 10 p.m., radio dzBB's Rodil Vega reported. Residents tried to save their belongings, piling their possessions up to Visayas Avenue and near the affluent Metro Heights Subdivision. A certain Jun Leyba suffered second-degree burns in the face, the report said. Metro Manila fire marshal Chief Superintendent Santiago Laguna estimated the damage to property at P10 million. An earlier report by dzBB's Sam Nielsen quoted village chairman Jaime Garcia as saying about 800 families lost their homes in the fire. City Mayor Herbert Bautista rushed to the site and instructed Garcia to find alternate shelter for the residents. On the other hand, firefighters tried to prevent the fire from reaching the nearby Montessori School of Quezon City, which was behind the residential area.—JV, GMA News