At least 600 families have been left homeless after a fire gutted Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila last night.
Residents woke up to the smell of smoke at around 11pm after a fire started on the second floor of one of the houses, ABS-CBN News reports. The fire quickly spread to other parts of the slum because most of the homes were made of light wood.
Making matters even worse, a fire truck was unable to reach some parts of the Compound because the streets were too narrow for the vehicle to pass through. There also wasn’t enough water coming out of the fire hydrants, and some residents reportedly grabbed the hoses from firemen and had to be stopped by the police.
The fire was completely extinguished at about 2:48am today, GMA News reports. About 300 houses were destroyed in the blaze, and the authorities estimate the damage to cost at least PHP2 million (US$39,326).
Two people were injured, according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, and investigators are still trying to determine the fire’s cause.
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