Fire razes cigarette factory warehouse

A four-hour-long fire razed a warehouse of a cigarette factory in Marikina City on Friday night, destroying around P5 million worth of  property.

Arson investigator SFO1 Noel Guiyab said a building of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. on Balagtas St. in Fortune Village was destroyed while another was partially damaged.

Five other company buildings and residential houses nearby were spared. No one was reported hurt.

Investigators said the fire started at 10:20 p.m. on Friday at the back portion of the warehouse and spread to the upper floors of the building.

The fire immediately crossed to an adjacent building prompting authorities to declare Task Force Delta, the highest fire alarm.

At least 50 fire trucks from other cities in Metro Manila rushed to the scene to control the fire which was finally put out at 2:50 a.m. the following day.

Fortune barangay captain Riza Cleofe said the Fortune Tobacco factory had been non-operational since last year after the company merged with cigarette giant Philip Morris.

“But I think company equipment were stored inside the buildings since guards were still manning the gates of the factory,” Cleofe said.

Investigators still could not say what caused the fire but Cleofe said faulty electrical wiring could have triggered it.

Although authorities placed the damage at P5 million, Marikina Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz believed the cigarette company was not significantly hurt by the fire.

“The burned buildings were already scheduled for demolition so there were no important equipment located in there,” Cadiz said.