A 67-year-old woman and her daughter died in a fire that gutted their three-storey house on 11th St., New Manila, Brgy. Mariana, in Quezon City early Wednesday morning, Feb. 9.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Public Information Office said that the victims, identified as Helen Uy, 67; and Johanna Uy, 40, were trapped while sleeping in their rooms when the fire broke out.
According to the BFP, Josefina Manlapas, 52, the house helper, she saw smoke coming from the living room at around 3 a.m. Manlapas managed to get out of the house by crawling through the thick smoke.
Emedio Panitan, 40, the security guard of the residential compound, also tried to throw things at the window of the bedroom to alert the victims. However, it failed to wake them up.
The BFP said they received a report on the fire incident at around 5 a.m.
The fire was declared under control at around 6:10 a.m. It was extinguished at around 6:20 a.m.
Arson probers placed the estimated damage to property at P2,250,000. Another daughter, Valerie Uy, 34, sustained laceration on her right hand.
Authorities are now investigating the cause of the fire which was believed to have originated from the laundry area on the first floor of the house.