5 hurt, 40 families homeless in 3-hour Las Piñas fire

03/31/2009

Las Piñas City Police apprehended a man who allegedly set his shanty on fire setting of a three-hour blaze Sunday night in a slum area in city that left about 40 families homeless.

Arson investigator SF04 Roberto Nullan identified the man as one Leopoldo Bernardino whom neighbors claimed to have burned their residence along Trinidad Street, San Isidro Subdivision, Barangay Pamplona 1 at around 11:23 p.m. Sunday.

Quoting the statement of Bernardino’s neighbors, Nullan said that prior to the incident; the former was heard arguing with his wife.

Nullan said he would be charged with arson depending on the result of their investigation.

Responding firefighters from the local fire station had a hard time extinguishing the flame due to the narrow streets in the area.

The blaze quickly spread to nearby shanties, which were made of light materials before it was put under control at past 2 a.m. yesterday.

Five people were also injured in the incident — Andrelin Basilio, Armando Malang, Teodoro Rabaja, Alfred Espenillo and Ronald Rivera.

Basilio, a Red Cross volunteer from Cavite was hit when a firetruck backed off into him at the height of the blaze.

Investigators placed the damage at P200,000.

Pat C. Santos

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