A more than two-hour fire totally destroyed the house of Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil, including other units, in a private village in Quezon City on Wednesday night, Feb. 14.
The fire broke out at half past 8 p.m. in a duplex house and engulfed another house on Gabriela Silang Street, New Capitol Estate 1, Barangay Batasan Hills.
Garafil told Batasan Hills Fire Brigade officer-in-charge Sanny Pineda that the family was having dinner when they heard their neighbors shouting.
The family members immediately went out of the house, taking with them their pets. Pineda said no one from the Garafil family was hurt, but their house was “totally burned.”
Insp. Marvin Mari, Quezon City Fire chief, said they received a late phone call that a fire broke out in the area.
“Being a Valentine’s Day, the traffic was heavy and had slowed down fire trucks to arrive at the scene,” he added.
Two other houses, including the one being occupied by a 67-year-old male Korean, were also razed.
The man sustained third-degree burns on his right hand and multiple second to third-degree burns on different parts of his body.
The fire was declared out at 10:44 p.m.
It incurred a damage worth P7 million, fire officials said.
BFP is still investigating the cause of the incident.