CAVITE CITY, Philippines --- Fourteen families were rendered homeless last Wednesday when a fire, believed caused by an unattended makeshift oven, razed a row of houses on M. Castro Street in Barangay Caridad, here.

The Police Provincial Office (PPO) said Thursday that there was no casualty in the hour-long fire which gutted down seven houses and partially damaged two other adjoining dwellings in the area.

In a report to Senior Superintendent John C. Bulalacao, PPO director, the Cavite City police station said that the fire started at the house of one Adelaida Recalde where the oven was.

The fire spread rapidly through nearby houses which were made of light materials. At least 11 firetrucks responded to the scene.

Arson investigators estimated the fire damage at P1.5 million.

The fire was the third this year in Cavite City, the former capital of Cavite province and the site of the former United States Naval Base.