5 families homeless after Malabon City fire; portion of Adventist church also burned

At least five families were rendered homeless when fire hit barangay Panghulo, Malabon City early Friday morning, Luisito Santos reported for Super Radyo's dzBB.

LOOK: Sunog sa isang residential area sa Bautista St., Brgy. Panghulo, Malabon City @dzbb pic.twitter.com/wNSlwZ7iNA

— Luisito Santos (@luisitosantos03) January 19, 2017

The fire also burned the ceiling of the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the same street, GMA News' Vonne Aquino reported on Unang Balita.

Camanava District Fire Marshall Supt. Crispo Diaz said the blaze started a few minutes after 2 a.m. in a house rented by a certain Ronald Dubluis on Bautista Street.

The fire reached the second alarm but was declared out by 3:17 a.m.

According to Dubluis, the fire incident may have been intentional.

“Bigla na lang may tumama na parang bote. Pagkabasag ng bote, nagkaroon na agad ng apoy. Akala namin magnanakaw,” Dubluis said in the Unang Balita report.

Meanwhile, Alberto Rodriguez, another fire victim, expressed disappointment over the lack of speedy response from the firefighters.

“Ang unang bumberong nagresponde, 20 minutes! Kami ba nasa looban? Wala naman, nasa tabing kalsada kami, accessible kami. Bakit ganyan? Sabi sira raw ang truck!” Rodriguez said.

For their part, Panghuli Fire Substation Commander Insp. Efren Calumag clarified that they have immediately notified the Central Fire Station who responded to the fire.

He said they had difficulty finding replacement parts for their 20-year-old firetruck which broke down in 2015. 

On the other hand, firefighters needed to break the glass door of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in order to put out the fire.

“Meron akong kasama. Natutulog ako tapos biglang sumigaw, ‘Brother Jun, may sunog sa kabila!’ Kaya ayun, nagising kami, binuksan ko lahat ‘yung mga pinto para sakali man ay makapasok ‘yung mga bumbero,” recalled Jun Mualla, the caretaker of the church.

The cost of damage was pegged at P200,000.

No one was reportedly killed or hurt from the incident.

Firefighters are still identifying whether the fire was caused by an electrical failure or an arsonist.

“Laging tinitignan natin sa mga elektrikal na bagay ‘pag ganitong situation, ‘di natin ma-trace talaga ‘yun. ‘Yung issue nila na nagsimula ang apoy sa likurang bagay, madalas nandun ang kitchen area,” said Diaz. —with Erwin Colcol/BAP/KG, GMA News