BFP’s final probe shows Star City blaze caused by faulty electrical wiring

Photo posted on Twitter shows the fire at Star City as authorities raised the fourth alarm. (File photo courtesy of Fire Alert Metro Manila)

MANILA, Philippines — The massive fire that left P1 billion worth of damages to Star City in Pasay was caused by faulty electrical wiring, contrary to an initial report saying that the cause was arson, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said on Friday.

“Ayon sa final investigation report ng [BFP] Inter-Agency Anti-Arson Task Force, ang cause ng sunog ay ‘yung tinatawag na overheated na light ballast at dahil dito nagkaroon ng overheating,” BFP spokesman Gerrandie Agonos told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

(Based on the final investigation of BFP Inter-Agency Anti-Arson Task Force, the cause of the fire is what we call overheated light ballast which resulted in overheating.)

“Nagkaroon ng sunog na involved na malapit dito. Ito ang naging dahilan ng pagkalat ng sunog (Fire began to hit several areas which was why the fire spread),” he added.

Previously, Pasay City Fire Marshal Paul Pili said in their initial probe showed that the Pasay City-based amusement park was deliberately set on fire.

But Agonos said it was an “opinion,” noting that BFP’s task force investigation had the jurisdiction which showed that faulty electrical wiring caused the conflagration.

“Meron kasing tinatawag na level of jurisdiction. Merong binigay na opinion na hindi official but as far as the official statement of the [BFP] ito ay yung inuulat ng Inter-Agency Anti-Arson Task Force. Ito ay electrical fire at hindi arson,” he said.

(We have what we call a level of jurisdiction. Some opinions are unofficial but as far as the BFP’s official statement, this is what the task force is saying. It was an electrical fire and not arson.)

To prevent fires, Agonos reminded the public to check and maintain electrical appliances to avoid overheating that would lead to a fire.

“Ang laging sinasabi natin yung kasing mga ilaw, appliances na nakasaksak, minsan kailangan chinecheck natin at kung nakikita natin ay kumikislap-kiskap, hawakan natin maiinit na ibig sabihin may problema na ang appliance. Dapat dito minemaintain, upang maiwasan yung overheating,” he said.

(We are always reminding the public to always check lights and appliances that are plugged in. If we see sparking, the electrical appliance might have problems. We should maintain it to avoid overheating.)

Edited by JE