April 20, 2014
A person died and at least 1,000 families were rendered homeless after a massive fire hit a residential area in Caloocan City on Sunday afternoon.
The fire started at a residential area along Maria Clara Street in Barangay 120 at around 5:25 p.m. By 8 p.m., the fire already reached the general alarm.
The fire quickly spread to houses in neighboring Barangays 118 and 119.
The Caloocan City Bureau of Fire Protection confirmed that one person died in the fire incident.
The fire razed at least 400 homes covering 30 hectares of land, leaving an estimated 1,000 families homeless. The affected families were sent to five evacuation centers in the city.
Firemen from nearby areas quickly responded to the incident but all of them admitted having a hard time putting out the big fire. As of posting, firefighters have yet to declare a ”fire out.”
Investigators said the result of an initial investigation pointed to electrical short circuit as the cause of the blaze.
A group from power distributor Meralco also went to the area to cut off power lines threatened by the fire, while a group of firemen surrounded a nearby gasoline station to prevent it from catching fire.
Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan promised that assistance will be given to the affected families. He said he will also talk to officials from the National Housing Authority for a possible relocation of the homeless families.
Source: ABS-CBN News
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