Around 200 families were left homeless in a fire that hit a residential area in Barangay Alabang, Muntinlupa yesterday. 

Initial reports by the Muntinlupa City Fire Station and Muntinlupa City Department of Disaster Resilience and Management, showed the blaze started at about 4:48 AM in Mariategue and Joaquin Compounds Wawa, Alabang. 

Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon visited the evacuation site at Alabang Elementary School where affected families are being registered and processed by personnel from Barangay Alabang and the city government. 

Biazon was told by affected residents that the fire started from a house beside a creek, and the blaze spread quickly due to strong winds. 

He said fire trucks found it difficult to enter the compounds through the railway area, and had to operate from M.L. Quezon Street or “baybayin.” 

Boats were also deployed to the creek to evacuate people who were trapped in the area, the mayor said.  

Report from the Muntinlupa City Fire Station, headed by Fire Supt. Rowena Gollod, stated that about 200 houses and establishments were destroyed in the fire resulting in a damage of P750,000 worth of properties. 

No one was injured in the blaze which affected about 400 people. Arson investigators is conducting a probe to determine the origin and cause of the fire. 

A total of 40 fire trucks and five ambulances responded to the incident. 

The mayor said he ordered the Social Services Department to provide the families with assistance including non-food items such as personal and household items. The affected families will also be given hot meals. 

The families will also get financial assistance from the city government, he added. 

Biazon said that due to the number of families affected by the fire, the Alabang Elementary School will not be able to accommodate all and another evacuation site will be opened where the families can temporarily stay.