A 41-year-old man was burned beyond recognition while his older brother was injured when their house went ablaze past midnight oin Thursday in Parañaque City.

Parañaque City fire marshal Supt. Manuel Manuel identified the fatality as Edwin Lebron, a resident of Cattleya St., Camella Homes II, Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City while the victim’s elder brother Jesusito, 49, sustained slight injuries on his back.

A report submitted by SFO3 Jerson Luciano indicated that the incident took place at about 12:28 a.m. yesterday at the bungalow-type residential house owned by the victims’ mother, Linda.

Prior to the incident, the victims were reportedly in deep slumber when their neighbors saw smoke billowing out of their window, followed by the immediate spreading of the blaze.

Firefighters were able to quickly put out the fire less than 30 minutes after it started.

Jesusito Lebron, the fatality's brother, told investigators that when he was roused from his sleep, the fire was already beyond control. Since it was already raging at the front door, he managed to escape by slipping out through the window.

By then, Lebron said that his mother already made it out of the house by going through the back door. They helped his father escape through a window.

Fire Senior Inspector Manuel Manuel said that Jesusito’s brother might have died of suffocation. It is possible, he said that the victim tried to get out of the house, but eventually passed out because of the thick smoke.

The fire only reached the first alarm while estimated damage to property was registered at P600,000.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined but initial investigation indicated that the fire started when an electric fan short-circuited. Arson investigators said that the spark from the electric fan might have caused a small fire which eventually grew bigger and consumed the rest of the house. (With a report by Rizal Obanil)