P10M lost in Naga City fire

NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur—Fire destroyed a three-story department store in downtown Naga shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday, causing damage and losses estimated in the millions of pesos.

Provincial Fire Marshal Lorenzo Rellosa Jr. said the initial estimate of the damage was placed at P10 million, including the building and goods  inside the Master’s Square Department Store, Supermarket and Food Center on Jaime Hernandez Avenue.

The establishment was owned by the Dy and Cabral families of this city.

Rellosa said the fire spread quickly even if fire fighters arrived within minutes after it was reported because the contents of the department store were mostly made of combustible materials.

Firemen also found it hard to extinguish the fire because the establishment’s metal rolling doors that were almost impossible to open from the outside, Rellosa said.

He said they were still determining the cause of the fire. Information gathered from witnesses showed that the fire started from the stockrooms of the establishment, said Senior Fire Officer 2 Ramon Antero Naval of the Bureau of Fire Protection of Naga City.

No one was reported injured in the fire, he said.

Rosendo Dy, who operated the grocery section of the building, said one of the guards called him up immediately after the fire was discovered on the second floor of the building.

Dy said they were also trying to find out what triggered the fire but he estimated that the damage might be more than P10 million.

He said the building was insured but he did not say by how much.

The fire was declared under control at about 8 a.m., Rellosa said.