Fire guts Makati restaurant stockroom causing P1.6M damage

Firefighters kept hosing down the stockroom with water as a precaution after the fire was declared out. —Photo by Alexander T. Magno | INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — A fire, probably sparked by an electrical malfunction, gutted the stockroom of a restaurant in Barangay La Paz, Makati,  in the early hours of Friday, causing an estimated damage of P1.6 million.

The fire started at around 1:30 a.m. in the stockroom of Peetchee’s Bulalo House on the ground floor of the five-story EGI 2 Condominium at the corner of Mola and Primo de Rivera Streets, according to a Makati Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) investigator, who declined to be identified as he was not yet authorized to speak about the incident.

The restaurant owner, who refused to be interviewed, had earlier gone out to celebrate his birthday elsewhere, only to find out shortly that his business was burning, the fire investigator told INQUIRER.net.

There were no injuries as the customers had already left by the time the fire started.

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Four minutes after the fire started, a resident in the area called the barangay hall for help, according to Eugene Clavejo, the night officer in charge at the La Paz Barangay Hall.

In minutes, two firetrucks arrived, one from the Makati BFP and one from the barangay, along with several rescue vehicles loaded with several volunteers and Bantay Bayan personnel.

News TV cameramen set up their equipment as bystanders and residents of the condominium mill around. —Photo by Alexander T. Magno | INQUIRER.net

They quickly helped the building residents evacuate to prevent them from suffocating from the smoke billowing out of the stockroom.

There was no loud explosion as some bystanders reported, the fire investigator said. But there was big spark similar to what would be caused by an electrical gadget that had short-circuited.

The restaurant had a total area of 40 square meters, but the firefighters were able to contain the spread of the fire to about 20 square meters, the fire investigator said.

Fire was put under control at 2:07 a.m. and was declared out at 2:21 a.m., but some firefighters remained to keep hosing down the gutted area with water as a precaution.

Firefighters look on just outside the restaurant entrance as the smoke from the fire starts to clear. —Photo by Alexander T. Magno | INQUIRER.net

Two firefighters walk out of the restaurant shortly after putting the fire under control. —Photo by Alexander T. Magno | INQUIRER.net