![\"Firefighters](\"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Fire-pix-150x150.jpg\")
Department of Public Safety Fire Division information officer Jocelyn Alvarez told Saipan Tribune at the scene that investigators were still trying to determine the cause of the blaze.<\/p>\n
Alvarez said DPS received a call from a man about the structure fire at 11:12am and that firefighters arrived at the scene after a few minutes.<\/p>\n
Alvarez said the blaze had already engulfed about 90 percent of the house, which was made of tin and wood materials, when the firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n
Narciso Ambalan said he is supposed to celebrate his 71st birthday today, Tuesday, but that nothing was left of the house and they failed to secure any of their belongings.<\/p>\n
Ambalan, a carpenter, said that prior to the fire, he was washing dishes outside the house while his two children\u2014a 22-year-old Department of Corrections officer and a 16-year-old boy\u2014were sleeping inside. <\/p>\n
Ambalan said his wife was at their neighbor\u2019s house at the time.<\/p>\n
Ambalan said an explosion occurred at their electric box panel located in one of the three rooms and fire immediately spread.<\/p>\n
He said his 16-year-old son, who did not go to school that day because of a stomach ache, was inside that room and was awakened by the explosion.<\/p>\n
The 16-year-old son then woke up his 22-year-old brother, who was sleeping in the living room. The two ran outside.<\/p>\n
Ambalan said he tried to get inside the house, but the fire was already large.<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s a blessing that his youngest son was not feeling well that day and did not go to school because it was he who woke up his brother.<\/p>\n
Ambalan said his oldest son was sound asleep at that time because he had just come home from work.<\/p>\n
The family has been renting the house from businessman J.M. Guerrero for about four years now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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