FILE / STOCK
BACOLOD CITY — An eight-hour fire destroyed two establishments in this city on Sunday, Feb. 12, leaving a total of P20.2-million worth of damages.
Chief Inspector Rodel Legaspi, head of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) – Bacolod, said hit by the fire were Jean’s Boutique owned by Jean Lumauag, and Wan Li Marketing owned by Alex Choi.
The BFP received a fire call at 8:33 a.m. that a fire had hit Jean’s Boutique. Firefighters were at the scene at 8:35 a.m. The fire then spread to Wan Li Marketing, Legaspi said.
The fire at Jean’s Boutique was put out before 11 a.m. while the blaze in Wan Li Marketing was put out at 4:14 p.m.
Legaspi said it was difficult to put out the fire on the third floor of Wan Li Marketing because it was packed with merchandise that left barely any room to move. The store sold items ranging from light bulbs, bags, liniments, folding beds to many other household items.
With the help of the vertical ladders of the Amity and Chamber volunteer fire brigades, he said they made holes in the walls of the third floor of Wan Li Marketing using circular saws. The holes were drilled from Jean’s Boutique and the sides of the building facing Luzuriaga and Locsin streets.
However, once they drilled the holes, they still could not enter the third floor because their pathways were blocked by the stands where the merchandise was placed.
“We could only put the nozzles of our hoses through the holes for water to enter the third floor,” Legaspi said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
RELATED STORY:
Fire sweeps through Cubao bus terminal, roof buckles in raging blaze