Valenzuela warehouse fire leaves P2-M damage

Firefighters climb atop mounds of paper to finally put out the blaze that hit a warehouse in Barangay Canumay West, Valenzuela City on Tuesday. —LYN RILLON

A fire which raged for nearly three hours caused around P2 million worth of damage in a warehouse stocked with paper in Valenzuela City on Tuesday.

The blaze started at 12:35 p.m. in the Alliance Commodities Center on San Diego Street in Barangay Canumay West, said arson investigator FO1 Clarita Catangui.

It took almost three hours to put it out, according to firefighters, because the warehouse was full of industrial paper. It was extinguished at 3:21 p.m.

While the cause has yet to be determined, Catangui said it appeared to have started in the warehouse’s mezzanine where paper stocks damaged at the height of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009 were stored.

Damage to property, mostly stocks of paper and an industrial machine, was estimated at around P2 million, she added.

No injuries or fatalities were reported as the employees were on their lunch break when the fire broke out, Catangui said. —Krixia Subingsubing