The large fire licked 700 houses on the boundary of Makati City and Pasay City Wednesday before it was put out past 1 P.M., leaving more than 3,000 families homeless. Senior Superintendent Pablito Cordeta, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Metro Manila, was quoted in a radio dzBB report as saying the blaze burned down around 700 shanties in Barangay (village) 144 in Pasay City. Investigators said the fire started at about 10:30 A.M. in a house along Bonifacio Street in Bangkal village in Makati, where 100 houses were destroyed. Some 350 affected families from Makati City are seeking temporary settlement at the city hall. Residents from the affected villages in Pasay City had either cramped themselves in a nearby bus station or carried their belongings all the way up to a nearby overpass. Initial investigation showed that the fire could have been triggered by a cooking stove that was left unattended. Firefighters had difficulty putting out the fire that reached the general alarm because of the narrow streets in Bangkal. A radio DZMM report said an unidentified woman was rushed to a hospital after suffocating from thick smoke. Authorities also arrested a man who was caught snatching wallets from panicking residents. __
