Fire razes Gaisano mall in Ormoc

CEBU, Philippines - Firefighters in Ormoc City along with those from neighboring towns helped battle a fire that broke out inside the Gaisano Capital Ormoc, in the middle of the commercial center of the city, at around midnight on Saturday.

As of press time, the fire has been declared as “under control” but no “fire out” has yet been declared. Dark smoke still billowed out of the building by 11 a.m. yesterday, 11 hours after the fire was reported.

The firefighters succeeded in containing the fire at the Gaisano Capital Ormoc only, preventing it from spreading to neighboring buildings.

Fire Officer 1 Lovernee Rauto, who mans the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Hotline, said they received the fire alarm at exactly 1:00 a.m. yesterday. The caller was a staff of the Ormoc Sugarland Suites, a pension house fronting the department store at the side of Rizal Street.

Rauto also said their office has not yet released official findings on the cause of the fire, as no fire investigators have yet entered the building. “It is still too hot,” she said in the vernacular.

She said that BFP-Ormoc immediately responded to the fire alert, using all of their 6 fire trucks. Other fire stations that came to help were that of Baybay City, the towns of Albuera, Tabango, Merida, Matag-ob, Kananga, Isabel, and the Tacloban City BFP arrived in the morning.

Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez, on the other hand, was at the fire scene at around 2:00 a.m., to help out in whatever way he could.

No estimate on the damage suffered by Gaisano has also been released. However, the building, owned by the Ormoc City Government, was worth P75 million when it was leased out to the Taipan Development Corporation in 1995.

This is the second time that the same area was hit by a fire. Locals said the area was where Ormoc’s old public market was situated before a fire gobbled it and was relocated to its present site.

Vincent Emnas, City Administrator, said that the Gaisano Capital Ormoc or “Ormoc City Shopping Mall” building was insured by the store with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). (FREEMAN)