KIDAPAWAN CITY (March 25) — Fire gutted a two-storey commercial building in Kabacan, North Cotabato early Monday morning.
Senior Fire Inspector Jerry Reyes, Bureau of Fire Protection Officer In Charge, said the blaze originated at the ground floor of Sugni Superstore particularly in the management office.
Reyes pegged the damage at P75 million.
“We are still investigating the cause of fire, but initially some of the employees claimed that the huge fire started at the ground floor,” Reyes said.
No one was hurt among the employees who at that time already assembled in front of the building.
Firefighters had difficulty in extinguishing the inferno as some of the establishment’s merchandise were combustible, causing the fire to spread easily throughout the building.
Reyes said it took firemen at least six hours to put it out.
“We don’t risk the lives of our firemen especially that the fire was being confined inside the establishment,” Reyes said.
The BFP official said that since the damage have reached P75 million, the national office will oversee the investigation.
Fire trucks from the towns of Carmen, Kabacan, Matalam, Mlang, Makilala and Kidapawan City combined forces to combat the fire but failed to save the establishment. /kga