BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Millions of pesos worth of ready-to-wear clothes and other merchandise went up in smoke after a nearly four-hour fire hit a two-story commercial building in Bacolod City early Wednesday morning, the authorities said.
Chief Inspector Pamela Rojane Candido, Bacolod City fire marshal, said the security guard of an adjacent department store saw thick smoke coming from the second floor window of the Sun Ves Marketing along Luzuriaga St. at about 5:40 a.m. and immediately contacted emergency hotline Patrol 117, which relayed the information to the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Candido said the BFP dispatched six fire trucks, which were joined by the Amity and the Chinese Chamber volunteer fire brigades.
She said the blaze spread quickly as the store contained garments and other combustible materials. It reached the second alarm status before it was put out at about 9 a.m., she added.
No one was hurt in the fire but P10 million pesos worth of garments was destroyed, a BFP report said.
A firewall had prevented the fire from spreading to the Ong Bun pension house beside the store, Candido said.
The investigation conducted by Senior Fire Officer 2 Harry Fernandez, FO3 Cornelio Silva and FO1 Abdul Azis Limpao showed the fire had originated from the southern portion of the store’s ground floor.
Candido said one of the cable wires got caught between the wall and the display rack of the store and eventually snapped, causing the fire.
Candido advised the public to be extra cautious especially during rains, which could soak electrical wires and cause short-circuits. She also urged the public to have their electrical connections regularly checked by licensed electricians.