Probers eye arson in Malabon fire

Authorities are looking into the possibility that someone may have deliberately set the fire which gutted a shoe store in Malabon City Monday morning.

Chief Superintendent Rodrigo Reyes, city fire marshal, told the Inquirer that they had invited for questioning several people, including Alex Laurente, the owner of Zenco Footstep Store, whose two-story-building on Gen. Luna Street in Barangay Concepcion was razed by a fire that began at 12:19 a.m.

No one was injured or killed in the blaze which reached the third alarm and destroyed P3 million worth of property.

In a television interview, Laurente said that the blaze could not have been the result of faulty electrical wiring because he had switched on the circuit breaker before the shop closed down for the day.

Reyes, meanwhile, said that although there was the likelihood of arson, he was also not ruling out the possibility that the fire was the result of an accident.

“We are still checking all possible angles but arson is possible,” he told the Inquirer, adding that possible motives include insurance claims or personal grudges.

At press time, investigators were making an inventory of the shop’s stocks and trying to determine if business was good before the blaze broke out.

At the same time, probers were also set to interview workers to find out if there was anyone who disliked the way the shop was being managed.

“We’ll see how the owner [treated] his employees,” Reyes explained.

Arson investigators have yet to determine where the blaze started. Several witnesses claimed that it began at the ground floor while others said it was at the second floor.

Responding authorities said the blaze lasted for over four hours because the shop contained flammable merchandise, mostly rubber.

The fire was put out at 4:30 a.m.