By Martin A. Sadongdong A fire engulfed a two-storey residential house near the LRT-Baclaran station in Parañaque City on Sunday afternoon, February 19, destroying P50,000 worth of properties, the city’s Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said. Senior Fire Officer 2 Vicente Aurellano, arson investigator, said that the fire originated at room of a certain Imelda in the house owned by Rolandrino Datu along E. Rodriguez Street. The fire started at 4:35 p.m. and reached third alarm. It was put out at 5:54 p.m. According to residents, they heard loud explosions inside the house of Datu before the fire. A netizen Janleo Cagampang, shared a video of the scenario on his Facebook page: “Ang akala namin gulong na pumutok. Tapos nagsigawan na sila sabi ‘Sunog! Sunog!’ kaya nagtakbuhan na kami,” a resident said. Although firefighters took some time to respond as the street leading to the origin of fire was crowded with stalls, they came just in time to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby My Mall. Aurellano said no one died in the incident. However, mall security guard Gil John Calipes, 38, sustained grazed wounds in his left hand after breaking a glass to get a fire hose. “Hindi ko na inisip ‘yung sakit eh, binasag ko na lang yun para hindi madamay ‘yung (building) namin,” Calipes said. Arson investigators are still determining the cause of the fire. Meanwhile, the operation of LRT temporarily stopped but resumed immediately after the fire.