Fire destroys P5M worth of oil palm in North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Fire destroyed an estimated P5 million worth of oil palm in a plantation in Arakan, North Cotabato on Thursday afternoon.

Senior Fire Officer Ronald Valle, Arakan Bureau of Fire Protection spokesperson, said the fire started around lunchtime but was only relayed to the Bureau of Fire Protection-Arakan past 4 p.m.

The oil palm plantation in Barangay Gambodes was about 10 kilometers from the town proper.

Firefighters declared the fire out two hours later.

The plantation owned by a trader from Matalam, North Cotabato was located in the tri-borders of Arakan, North Cotabato, Quezon town in Bukidnon and Marilog District of Davao City.

Valle said witnesses saw someone setting on fire dried bushes that later went out of control and reached the plantation. /ee