BOCAUE, Bulacan--At least three people, including two members of a TV news crew, were hurt while 10 stalls were gutted when a stall selling firecrackers in Barangay Turo here exploded early Monday and started a fire, police said.

Senior Insp. Rizalino Andaya, police chief here, said the blast hit the stall owned by Elvie Navarro at 10:15 a.m. The fire created by the blast spread to nearby stalls in Pyroville, a designated area for firecracker stalls near the Bocaue exit of the North Luzon Expressway.

Andaya said Rodelio Magpulas, 40, who was tending one of the stalls, suffered burns in the feet and legs and was taken to the Sta. Maria General Hospital.

Andaya said Christopher Pineda, a technical crew member, and Romualdo Malingit, security guard, both accompanying a news team of GMA 7, were not taken to a hospital because they suffered only minor injuries.

Reports said the GMA 7 crew was in the area to cover the New Year's Eve sale of firecrackers in this town, considered the "firecracker capital" of the country.

Andaya said most stall owners and their helpers in the area left their stalls after they heard the blast and noticed that a fire had started.

He said witnesses saw a helper in Navarro's stall putting together pieces of "sawa" (a product with at least 1,000 pieces of the firecracker 'five star' strung together) to create a longer product when a buyer accidentally threw a lighted cigarette butt nearby.

Andaya said the firecrackers exploded and its sparks reached the pile of other products in Navarro's stall that caused the blast and fire.

Residents said many buyers were in the area when the explosion happened.

Andaya said at least P15 million worth of products and property was lost to the fire.

Lawyer Carlo Santiago, owner of a three-story building across Pyroville, said he would sue Antonio Dinglasan, the area's operator, for negligence.

Santiago said parts of his building, especially its windows, were damaged following the explosion. He said the damage would reach at least P100,000.

At least seven vehicles, including one owned by Dinglasan's son, were damaged.

Supt. Allen Bantolo, Bulacan police director, said the blast was the eighth explosion involving a firecracker and pyrotechnic stall or makeshift factory in the province in 2007.

Earlier, firecracker and pyrotechnic manufacturers in the province said 2007 was one of the worst years for the industry as the government's efforts to discourage Filipinos from using their products have resulted in low sales.

Rolando Bonilla, vice president of the Philippine Pyrotechnic Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., said advertisements on radio, TV and newspapers on the supposed dangers of using these products have discouraged people from buying them.

Bonilla said government-sponsored plugs against the industry and various campaigns launched by the Department of Health, the police and local governments have hurt the industry the most.

An official of the National Bureau of Investigation expressed disappointment at the fire, saying it was an indication that some workers and owners of firecracker stalls were not heeding NBI advice.

The bureau recently deployed bomb experts to Bocaue to inspect factories and give tips on the proper handling and storage of gunpowder and other chemicals used for firecrackers.

"We've already given them lecture in order to avoid firecracker-related fires and accidents that usually claim the lives of people and cause damages to properties," lawyer Romulo Asis, chief of the NBI Antiterrorism Division, said, admitting that he was dismayed over the Bocaue fire.