Tonight (Thursday, July 08, 2010) around 6:00pm (Philippine Standard Time) tragedy struck several businesses and homes in the community of Aglayan on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines as a fire raced though the area.

At this time the cause of the fire is uncertain. However, people at the scene indicated that the fire started at a restaurant. Statements of witnesses suggest that the cause was due to a defective propane take feed line connecting to one of the cooking burners. Statements indicated that the fire may have been the result of spilled grease/oil that had caught on fire spreading behind the stove to the propane tank line causing a minor explosion then flames spewing directly from the feed line. The fire then spread quickly to the walls and to the surrounding buildings, businesses and homes. Though I believe the information to be accurate at this time no official cause has been determined.

While several people were injured with minor burns, no one has been reported killed as a result of the fire.

Then were the "invisible" heroes in this tragedy. For instance one of the local rice millers as well as a buyer/seller of rice brought many members of their crews to the fire and were braving the inferno to help some of the people get as much out as they could, then transporting the items to safe locations. Unfortunately the fire spread so quickly and the heat so intense that only small a quantity of anything could be saved.