MATCHES should be kept out of the reach of children.

The huge fire in San Juan City that killed three persons and left thousands of families homeless on Christmas Day was caused by two children playing with matches and candles, according to the city’s Fire Protection Bureau.

The bureau said that the blaze that hit Barangay St. Joseph started at the house of Francisco Baulite on Marne St. Reports said two children —Simon Baulite and his cousin Edmelyn Robles—were seen playing with matches and lighted candles shortly after the family had their Noche Buena.

“Simon’s aunt, Jobelle Robles, herself admitted to the San Juan BFP that she saw the children playing with candles. It was also Jobelle who woke up her mother, Evelyn, because their house was on fire,” City Fire Marshall Gilberto Dolot said.

Jobelle admitted that it was not the first time that the children have been caught playing with matches, Dolot said.

“The Baulite family had been living without electricity for two months now, so they have already spent several nights using candles,” he said. “It is unfortunate that this time, probably distracted from the Christmas celebrations, the family elders fell asleep ahead of the kids, who were playing with the lighted candles. And that’s how the fire started.”

The fire, which started at 2:25 a.m., quickly spread because the houses in the neighborhood were made of light materials.

Dolot said that the fire could have been put out earlier had the rowdy and drunk residents not blocked and threatened firefighters and volunteers.

“We had difficulty in putting out the fire because most of the residents were drunk. Some of them smashed the windshields of five fire trucks, others tried to grab the hoses from the volunteers. It was pandemonium all over,” the fire marshall said.

The fire was contained at 7 a.m. By then, around 2,000 families were without homes and three persons were dead.

One of the fatalities was the brother of barangay captain Nelly Duka—Wilfredo Dineros Jr.—who was too drunk to save himself. Dineros’ charred body was found in the rubbles on Wednesday.

The Dukas and the Baulites were neighbors.

“My husband and I woke up at 2:30 a.m. because someone was shouting that there’s a fire. To check, my husband climbed to the 4th floor. When he saw the gravity of the fire, he urged me to hurry and grab everything we can. He said obviously the fire could not be easily contained,” Duka said.

She and her husband dragged her brother Wilfredo out of the house, but the latter was too drunk to comprehend what was happening.

“Our neighbors said they saw him walk right after we dragged him from the house, but he walked in the opposite direction, towards the fire,” she added.

The two other casualties were Jose Marco, a blind man, who was trapped in the fire, and Michael Munoz, who was mauled to death because the residents mistook him for a fireman.

Munoz’s death is being investigated by the police.