Four people were hurt and many families were left homeless after a fire destroyed nine houses in Makati City early Saturday morning.
In his report, Jhomer Apresto said the blaze occurred in a residential neighborhood along D. Gomez Street in Barangay Tejeros at around 1 a.m.
Residents worked to help extinguish the blaze with water buckets.
Responding firefighters also used water from a nearby creek to douse the flames.
One resident, 64-year old Elizabeth, said she was awakened by shouts from her neighbors. She and her husband hurriedly fled with their three pet dogs.
“Kasi po yung bahay namin luma na, madali siyang matupok kaya paggising namin, dampot lang nito, labas na po kami kasi malapit na malapit na po,“ she said.
(Our house is old, it will burn easily so once we woke, we picked up our pets and fled since the fire was very near.)
Fire Inspector Rodulfo Aguilar of the Makati Bureau of Fire Protection said the blaze reached the 2nd Alarm and lasted for around two hours. It was put out at 3:20 a.m.
“Nakita niyo naman yung struggle na nangyari, medyo dikit dikit talaga yung bahay tapos mahirap pasukin lalo na doon sa loob dahil may mga eskinita, kailangan natin umakyat sa taas.”
(As you can see, the houses were packed together, it was difficult to enter due to the narrow alleys and we had to climb upstairs.)
Nine houses were totally destroyed but it is yet unclear how many families were affected.
Four persons were injured, including a man who sustained 1st degree burns on his arm.
One dog was rescued from a burning house.
The BFP said the estimated cost of the damage is P4.8 million.
Authorities are still looking for a temporary shelter for the affected residents as the designated evacuation center is still full of families from previous fires that left over 300 persons homeless.
The cause of the fire is still being determined. —RF, GMA Integrated News
