A monstrous fire dashed the hopes of a happy Christmas of hundreds of families living in a squatters’ colony that runs between the neighboring cities of Makati and Pasay.

Reports reaching the radio room of the Makati Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) revealed that the blaze began at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at a house situated at the corner of Bonifacio and Rodriguez Streets, Bangkal.

The homes in the area were reported to have been built out of light materials, making it easy for the fire to spread.

An hour later, flames had already made its way to shanties in Gamban and Malibay in Pasay City.

Makati Fire Marshal Samuel Tadeo said the huge blaze had consumed at least 300 houses by noon. Another 600 was reported to have been razed down in Pasay.

Due to the intensity of the blaze, authorities raised the fire level from Task Force Charlie to the General Alarm in just a matter of minutes. Under the General Alarm, all fire trucks within reasonable distance from the affected area were called to respond.

All nine functioning fire trucks from the Makati BFP were deployed to the site of the fire.

The BFP said they have yet to account for any casualties in the incident since fire response was still ongoing as of this posting.

Fire fighters reportedly encountered difficulties positioning their trucks since roads in the area were too narrow and the swarm of fretful residents made it even more cramped.

Likewise, traffic was snarled along the southbound lane of EDSA as traffic enforcers tried to give way to incoming fire trucks from different cities.

A Caltex gas station along EDSA was even forced to shut down its operations because of its proximity to the burning homes.

Meanwhile, the affected families found temporary shelter at the abandoned BLTB compound in Pasay. The compound, formerly used by a bus company, was itself the site of a huge fire in 2003 that left over 1,500 families homeless.

The cause of Wednesday’s fire is yet to be determined.