PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur — The local government here Friday distributed relief goods to the 60 families displaced by fire that hit a slum area in this city.

Haron Damada Jr., City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) action officer, said relief goods included food packs and non-food items, such as kitchen utensils, used clothes, mats, and blankets.

The families displaced by the fire were temporarily sheltered at the covered court of Barangay Dumagoc.

Senior Insp. Edgar Quitoy, city fire marshal, said the fire broke out in Barangay Dumagoc at about 5:56 p.m. Thursday.

Quitoy said investigation showed the fire, which started at the kitchen of Pacita Navies, engulfed the entire house and rapidly spread to nearby houses, mostly made of semi-concrete and light materials.

He said the fire that lasted for more than one hour razed 49 houses and nine classrooms of the Dumagoc elementary school. Two houses were partially damaged.

He placed the property damage at PHP1.2 million, excluding the cost of the nine classrooms. (PNA)