Keep ammo storage areas safe, PNP execs told

CORDONED OFF | A gate at the 10th Forward Service Support Unit of the Army Support Command inside Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City has been cordoned off immediately after a fire broke out at an ammunition storage facility on Monday night. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Army 4th Infantry Division)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police chief has ordered all officers to regularly inspect their ammunition storage areas to prevent any untoward incident, similar to the fire that broke out in a military camp in Cagayan de Oro City early Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., the PNP officer in charge, issued the directive to regional police directors and commanders of PNP units to exercise due diligence in storing ammunition due to the danger that comes with it if mishandled, according to Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, the PNP director for operations.

“Our commanders should always make sure to check the weather condition and the temperature inside the storage areas. Moisture may develop inside and this can ignite the ammunition inside,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We have to be careful and responsible in handling this because we don’t want any similar incident that happened in Cagayan de Oro City to happen in the police camps or any police offices. So the best way to ensure that this would not happen is to take regular preventive measures,” he added.

According to De Leon, the same due diligence must also be observed in evidence storage areas where confiscated firearms and ammunition from criminals and crime suspects are stored.

At least three civilians were injured after they were hit with shrapnel when a fire broke out early on Tuesday at the ammunition depot at Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City. The facility stored 155mm Howitzer rounds and various small arms ammunition.

More than 50 families living near the ammunition complex had been evacuated and sheltered at the 4th Infantry Division’s gymnasium and covered court.

Lesson

De Leon said what happened in Cagayan de Oro should serve as a lesson for every police commander to take extra safety measures in the storage of ammunition.

“They would surely be facing administrative liability if they would not exercise due diligence,” he said.

Army officials are conducting a separate inquiry into the fire that hit the ammunition dump at Camp Evangelista.

On May 7, 2014, a fire at the Philippine Army’s Explosives and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Battalion at the Army Support Command (Ascom) compound in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, caused explosions that left three soldiers dead.

More than 30 Army service officers and responding personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection were also injured in the blaze.

The incident prompted the Army to transfer its EOD unit to Camp Aquino in Tarlac City.

The Army’s Board of Inquiry found that the fire was caused by a spark from an overloaded electrical line in the EOD battalion’s training room. There was also no safety officer during the fire, which violated the standard operating procedure at the facility.

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