A live-in couple died after being trapped inside their burning home during a fire that razed several houses in Barangay E. Rodriguez, Quezon City, on Monday afternoon, November 2.
According to the initial investigation, the male victim reportedly went back inside their burning house in an attempt to rescue his live-in partner. However, the two were unable to escape as the flames rapidly spread, trapping them inside.
The fire broke out at around 5 p.m. at the corner of New York Avenue and Stanford Street in Cubao.
It reached the fourth alarm and lasted for more than four hours before firefighters managed to put it out, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).
The blaze left 177 families, or nearly 500 individuals, homeless.
Barangay E. Rodriguez Chairman Marcelino Buena Agua Jr. said the affected families were scheduled to be transferred to another temporary shelter as students would soon resume using the Carlos P. Garcia High School, where the displaced residents had been temporarily accommodated.
One of the proposed relocation sites is Cobord Court in neighboring Barangay Milagrosa, Buena Agua said.
Meanwhile, the barangay's initial report indicated that the fire started at the house of an elderly couple. Investigators are looking into an unattended lighted candle as the possible cause of the blaze.
[Reports from RH Val Gonzales]
