Discarded cigarette caused Baguio City market blaze, says fire marshal

A 6-hour fire razed the public market in Baguio City on March 11, displacing almost 2,000 vendors and leaving at least P24 million in damage. (Photo by Justine Rhys Lawrence Martirez)

BAGUIO CITY — A discarded lighted cigarette triggered the fire that struck  Blocks 3 and 4 of the Baguio City Public Market  on March 11, according to Baguio City Fire Marshal Supt. Marisol Odiver.

Lasting about six hours, the blaze displaced almost 2,000 vendors and incurred P24 million in damage.

In a letter sent to Mayor Benjamin Magalong yesterday, Odiver explained that the fire originated from stall no. 46 at the Block 4 Extension, a section known for selling secondhand clothes.

Odiver said that a discarded cigarette ignited a sack of clothes in the area and the fire eventually spread.

This confirmed the initial findings of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) that the fire was neither caused by faulty wiring nor a flammable substance.

Odiver also ruled out any malicious intent regarding the cause of the blaze, recommending that it be “closed and solved for being accidental in nature…”

The urban poor group Kadamay, along with several activists in the region, had earlier called for an in-depth investigation into the matter, alleging that the fire was intentional to make way for the privatization of the market, which residents of the city opposed in 2020.

“It is concerning that whenever the government plans to privatize a place and the people oppose it, fires follow,” Kadamay said in a statement on March 13.

Right after the fire, the local government launched a seven-day cleanup of the razed sections of the market, building temporary stalls for the displaced vendors.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development – Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD – CAR) handed P10,000 in cash assistance to the affected vendors.

gsg