WORLD : Irate Husband Tosses Lamp at Wife, Leaves 31,000 Homeless

A husband hurled a kerosene lamp during a fight with his wife early today, triggering a massive seven-hour fire that left 31,000 people homeless and one person dead in a Manila slum, officials said.

Investigators said initial reports indicated the fire started in the house of Jose Gallen, the lone fatality. They said his wife was hurt when Gallen threw the kerosene lamp during an argument.

Residents said the fire in suburban Pasay City spread rapidly because of the fire department’s slow response and poor equipment. One resident said a fire truck arrived but without water.

Another fire truck stalled, blocked a street and had to be pushed away by the residents, witnesses said.

Fire investigator Renato Recto said that firefighters responded immediately after the fire station received the alarm at 2:30 a.m. but that vehicles parked on the narrow streets in the community prevented fire trucks from moving closer to the blaze.

The Department of Social Work and Development said the houses of more than 6,000 families were destroyed or damaged. Victims were being sheltered in a school house and an unoccupied private compound, officials said.