Bureau of Customs building fire leaves P50M in damage

MANILA, Philippines —  The fire that struck the Bureau of Customs (BOC) building at the Port Area in Manila on Friday evening left P50 million in damage, the BOC reported.

BOC spokesperson Erastus Austria said the fire damaged mostly “office supplies.”

Fire Officer 3 Ivy Placides of Manila City Fire Department said the blaze which lasted for almost 10 hours started at about 9 p.m. at the BOC building near Gate 3 of the South Harbor.

The blaze was raised to fourth alarm after an hour. It reached the fifth alarm at 10:11 p.m.

In a Tweet, the BOC said around 30 firetrucks were deployed to put out the fire.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) immediately responded to the incident. More than 30 firetrucks were deployed to the site to contain the fire. pic.twitter.com/MVFiPq4ise

— Bureau of Customs PH (@CustomsPH) February 22, 2019

After four hours, the blaze was declared under control. It was put out after three hours.

Austria said there were no injuries during the fire. /ee/muf