Fire sets off bombs in Army camp

Firemen keep a safe distance after earlier explosions at the burnt Army Support Command depot inside Fort Bonifacio wounded some of their colleagues. ARNOLD ALMACEN

MANILA, Philippines—Within 24 hours, four fires struck the metropolis: An inferno that left about 100 families homeless in Quezon City, a blaze that killed a bedridden man in Manila, another that gutted a residential building in San Juan, and the “big bangs” from an arms depot that injured at least 25 people at the main base of the Philippine Army in Fort Bonifacio.

Of the four, the last sent the biggest shock waves as it remained potentially lethal at press time and tested the capital’s readiness to battle raging flames stoked by the summer’s record-high temperatures.

Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, a one-story building within the Army Support Command (Ascom) compound—a structure used for training and housing ammunition and explosives, including antitank landmines and other materiel seized from rebel forces—caught fire and was later ripped by explosions just as emergency responders were moving in to contain the blaze.

The force of one blast was so strong that it shook a pickup truck some 20 meters away, the door slamming against Army spokesperson Lt. Col Noel Detoyato, shortly after he arrived at the scene.

The explosions also shattered the windshield of an approaching Air Force fire truck, bent the goalposts of a nearby football field, and rained ashes and debris on neighboring compounds. At the nearby Southern Police District headquarters, a window was shattered and pictures fell off walls.

“We were 20 meters away but the debris flew further,” Detoyato said. “I felt the blast and I thought I was also hit because my body hurt,” the official told reporters.

Insp. Maria Leah Sajili, a fire fighter from Taguig, wounded an arm and leg. “I thought it was the end of the world. It rained rocks.”

“I saw the firemen being thrown off their feet, like in an action film,” said Pvt. Benji Dadula. “I just turned around for a second, then ‘Bang!’”

By the time the fire was declared under control an hour later, 25 responders—military men and fire fighters—had sustained various injuries, including four Army personnel needing stretchers because of the burns practically covering their bodies.

Chief Insp. Junito Maslang, Taguig City fire marshall, said Msgt. Ferdinand Rafal and 1st Lt. Dinar Alosada suffered burns covering “80 to 90 percent” of their bodies.

Some of them take a break, checking themselves for injuries, after hours of battling the flames. JOAN BONDOC

Sgt. Rommel Septino and Cpl. Bernabe Mota suffered second-degree burns, while Captains Julius Galleon and Rosalino Galla also sustained injuries, Maslang said.

Galleon is the commanding officer of the Camp Aguinaldo Fire Station, which was among the first fire teams to arrive. The wounded were brought either to the Army General Hospital or the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center in Quezon City for treatment.

Explosions from the burnt building were still being reported at 3 p.m. As of late afternoon, firemen were still training hoses on the structure “as the heat could trigger more explosions,” Maslang said.

Authorities have yet to pinpoint the cause of the fire, but Maslang cited the extreme heat as one likely factor.

Detoyato ruled out arson or the Ascom coming under attack, noting that the compound is a highly secured area.

Around 10 to 15 Ascom personnel were already evacuated from the compound when the explosions started, he added. “We were already standing on the side because it seemed the fire was already put out, but apparently, the heat inside caused an explosion,” Detoyato said.

Though it made the biggest news, the Fort Bonifacio fire was not the only one that had kept fire fighters busy since Tuesday afternoon.

In Quezon City, a fire that started around 6 p.m. Tuesday left about a hundred families homeless and four residents injured in Barangay Holy Spirit. Authorities received reports that children left playing with matches caused the blaze that started from the house of Salome Andaluz.

In Manila, a 70-year-old man died after being trapped in a burning six-story commercial and residential building in Recto Avenue, Binondo. The 11 a.m. blaze on Wednesday killed the bedridden Kaseng Ng, officials said.

In San Juan, a two-story residential building on Paraiso Street, Barangay (village) Corazon de Jesus caught fire around 6 a.m.

Chief arson investigator SFO3 Domingo Cabug said the same building was hit by fire on Nov. 12, 2012.—With reports from Jeannette Andrade, Erika Sauler, Kristine Felisse Mangunay and Isabelle Lee

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