P3M lost as fire hits building in Ermita

An estimated P3 million worth of property was damaged after a fire razed a two-story commercial building in Ermita, Manila, Sunday morning.

The blaze which started at 9:40 a.m. ripped through a row of business offices inside the JMBM Building at 1338 Mabini St.

Manila Fire District operation chief Bonifacio Carta told the Inquirer that the fire reached the fifth alarm in less than an hour.

Among the offices that were damaged were a bank, a travel agency and several money-changing shops.

According to building maintenance officer Narcito Tuazon, he noticed smoke coming from the office of Wildcat Machinery, a distributor of contractor equipment and supplies, on the second floor of the building around 9:30 a.m.

He added that the office contained mostly documents.

Although the cause of the fire was still under investigation,  the maintenance officer suspected that it could be due to electrical failure since all offices were closed and there were no tenants inside the building at the time it began.

Firefighters said they found it hard to put out the flames as they could not enter the building except through the windows on the second floor.

Carta also noted that the blaze easily spread to the other business offices because the structure’s ceiling was made of wood.

“There were no reported deaths or injuries in the fire because all of the offices were closed and [there was no one inside the building],” the fire investigator told the Inquirer.

The blaze which was declared under control after an hour caused poor visibility in the area due to the thick black smoke that reached United Nations and Taft Avenues.

It also caused traffic to build up on nearby streets.