Late night fire hits military quarters

A FIRE ate up two sleeping quarters and a canteen of the 2nd Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) headquarters of the military’s Central Command (Centcom) in Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City on  Sunday night.

No one was hurt in the fire which damaged property  worth P75,000.

The fire was tapped at 10:56 p.m.

Five fire trucks including one from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) put out the fire at 11:26 p.m.

FO2 Omar Segovia said the fire startedi n the ceiling but they have yet to identify the cause.

He said they are verifying reports that ammunition, not explosives, were stored in the area. Segovia said  Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Pabiluna reported the fire to them.

“Some residents said they heard loud explosions in the area,” Segovia said in Cebuano.

He said the EOD transit headquarters were built of wood and light materials.

Col. Philip Lapinid, civil military operations chief at Centcom, said they were making a separate investigation.

During yesterday’s inspection, Lapinid said the electical wirings appeared  old.

Lapinid said the fire was an isolated incident and posed no security threat to the camp. Reporter Rhea Ruth V. Rosell and Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus