Fire destroys parts of Armed Forces headquarters in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two sleeping quarters and a canteen of the 2nd Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) at the Armed Forces Central Command (Centcom) in Barangay Lahug here, were destroyed in a fire, on Sunday night.

Faulty electrical wiring was suspected to be the cause of fire that broke out past 11 p.m. from one of the sleeping quarters.

It was the first fire to hit the biggest military base in the Visayas in 10 years.

Cebu City Fire Marshall Anderson Comar said they received the fire alarm past 11 p.m. but the firefighters were able to put out the fire immediately.

No one was hurt. Damage to property was pegged at P75,000 since the structures were made of light materials.

Colonel Philip Lapinid, Civil Military Operations chief at Centcom, said he has ordered a separate investigation to determine how they could improve the safety measures inside Camp Lapu-Lapu, Centcom headquarters.

When they inspected the fire scene Monday morning, Lapinid said they noticed that the electrical wires at the EOD were old.

“We inspected to see if there were areas that needed improvement,” he told reporters.

Lapinid said they would verify if explosions were heard during the fire since there were EOD kits kept inside the sleeping quarters.

These kits contain materials used in bomb detonation and disposal.

The EOD is in charge of bomb disposal and recovery as well as safekeeping of vintage bombs.