3-hour fire hits commercial building in Lanao del Norte town

Firefighters battled a dawn blaze in Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte on Sunday, Feb. 14 that gutted a two-story commercial building. Total damage was estimated at over P10 million. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MICHAEL NAVARRO

ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — A three-hour fire that started dawn on Sunday, Feb. 14, razed a commercial building on the national highway in Barangay Maranding in Lala town, Lanao del Norte.

Fire Insp. Kenneth Pulig told the Inquirer by phone that an alarm was called in at around 3:30 a.m. of a fire that hit the two-story building of Alceso Marketing, formerly known as Metro Gold shopping center.

The fire reached the fourth alarm, necessitating the assistance of firefighters from Kapatagan, Baroy, Tubod, Kolambugan, and Bacolod towns.

The blaze was put out at around 6:30 a.m.

Pulig said initial investigation suggested that faulty electrical wiring might have caused the fire that caused an estimated P10.2 million in property damages.

Meanwhile, a day earlier on Saturday, another three-hour fire gutted a commercial building in the downtown area of Iligan City at around 10:30 p.m..

As of this writing, fire investigators were still determining the cause of the blaze and the cost of the damage.

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