Fire hits Naga hotel, razes 2 stockrooms

NAGA CITY—Fire hit one of the oldest hotels in this city Monday morning.

Senior Fire Officer 4 Benhur Caronan, investigator at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Naga City, said the fire burned two rooms of the Aristocrat Hotel on E. Angeles Street at the center of the city, but no one was reported injured as the rooms were stocked with dried cogon grass and nylon fishing nets.

Caronan said they received a call for help from the hotel’s security guard at around 10:34 a.m. When the firemen got there within a few minutes, the flames were spreading through the stock rooms located at the topmost floor of the three-story hotel.

“The fire reached only level one alarm but produced so much smoke because of the burning nylon fishing nets,” Caronan said, adding that they put the fire out at 11 a.m.

Mayor John Bongat came to the scene with the Public Safety Office (PSO) to ensure the fire was put under control. Volunteer firemen and trucks from Chin Po Tong and Naga White also helped stop the fire from spreading to other establishments on the first floor of the building.

A restaurant and other commercial establishments occupied the first floor of the hotel while hotel rooms were located at the second and third floor.

Cause of the fire is still under investigation, said Caronan.