As of 8:10 a.am.: Fire at Arts and Letters Building in UP Diliman, Quezon City. INQUIRER/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
(UPDATE) A fire razed the Faculty Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman building campus in Quezon City before dawn Friday.
The Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of the UP College of Mass Communication, said a fire hit the Rizal Hall or the Bulwagang Rizal around 1 a.m.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the fire reached fifth alarm at 1:40 a.m and was raised to Task Force Alpha at 2:54 a.m.
Task Force Alpha is a call code to send all firetrucks to the scene to put out the blaze.
The UP Journalism Club, in its official Twitter account, said around 50 firetrucks from the Quezon City Fire Department and nearby fire stations arrived in the area to put out the fire.
It said the fire started on the third floor at around 1 a.m. Friday, quoting the building’s guard on duty, Franco Naiza.
The Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of UP Diliman, said initial assessment revealed that the fire started on the third floor of the Faculty Center and spread down to the lower floors.
It said the fire was placed under control at around 4:40 a.m.
Quoting UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan, the Philippine Collegian said the fire did not reach the building’s first floor but it would be off limits as floors might collapse.
The Rizal Hall or Bulwagang Rizal houses the department offices of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) and faculty rooms of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. The UP Creative Writing Center is also housed at the Rizal Hall.
“The faculty center is gone. Lost many books, furniture pieces from my parents and grandparents, paintings from friends and former students, precious memorabilia. sic transit gloria mundi,” said poet-professor and UP assistant vice president for public affairs Jose Wendell Capili in his official Facebook account.
Meanwhile, the UP administration, in an advisory said classes held at CAL were suspended. Others classes in the university will continue, it added.
In 2015, a fired also razed the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association (Casaa) food center in June and another fire hit the UP Alumni Center in July. TVJ/CDG
Originally published at 0310 a.m. of April 1, 2015
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