BOCAUE, Bulacan – Three men were injured when 20 fireworks stalls here were gutted after firecrackers exploded yesterday morning and destroyed an estimated P10 million worth of property.
In Rosario, Cavite, 20 fireworks stalls were also destroyed by a fire that hit a firecracker dealer inside the Rosario public market.
In Tubigon, Bohol, firecracker stalls and pyrotechnics worth P500,000 were destroyed by fire at the public market last Sunday afternoon.
Arson probers are looking into reports that the three fire incidents were caused by lighted cigarette butts thrown near the firecrackers.
Bulacan fire marshal Supt. Absalom Zipagan identified the victims in the Bocaue blaze as Christopher Pineda, GMA Channel 7 news van coordinator; Romualdo Malingit, a security guard of Channel 7, and Rodel Calupas, a fireworks salesman. The victims suffered minor burns and lacerations.
Pineda and Malingit were part of the Channel 7 crew conducting live coverage of fireworks trading in the area when the fire occurred.
Zipagan said that the fire started at around 10:30 a.m. at the Navarro Fireworks Store in Barangay Turo in Bocaue.
An explosion rocked the fireworks stall and triggered the fire that immediately spread to adjacent stalls.
Zipagan said a Toyota Innova with licence plates ZLX-499, a pick-up truck with license plates VAT-201 and two Yamaha motorcycles were damaged in the fire.
Probers are also checking reports that a fireworks dealer tested a firecracker that triggered the fire. Testing of pyrotechnics near the stores is strictly prohibited.
Jeremias Caguingin of the Bulacan Pyrotechnics Regulatory Board (PRB) said they will also look into the reported violations of fireworks stall owners.
Engineer Celso Cruz, former president of the Philippine Pyrotechnics Manufacturers and Dealers Association Inc., (PPMDAI), told The STAR that the required stock limit for pyrotechnics products inside a store is only 25 kilos to minimize the damage that could be caused by fire or other accidents.
He said that stalls selling pyrotechnics should be at least 15 meters away from the nearest stall.
The separation of stalls was apparently violated at the site of the fire along Gov. Halili Road which is a center of fireworks trading in the area. The temporary stalls were separated only by wooden walls.
Another pyrotechnics explosion along Gov. Halili Road killed three children on Dec. 31, 2004.
Local officials have proposed the creation of a “fireworks village” where pyrotechnics products can be sold safely.
In Cavite, provincial police director Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas said the one-hour blaze started from a firecracker store inside the Rosario public market at around 12:30 a.m.
Fire investigators said 20 firecracker stalls and six other stores selling shoes were gutted after fireworks exploded inside one of the stalls.
Initial reports said a witness, Jaidilyn Sagpao, told investigators that he saw a man named Albert Espinosa throw a lighted cigarette butt in one of the firecracker stalls.
Espinosa, on the other hand, said Sagpao should be blamed for the fire because he allegedly lighted a piccolo firecracker and threw it in one of the stalls.
Rosario Mayor Nonong Ricafrente had banned the sale of firecrackers in the town and ordered authorities to confiscate all firecrackers being sold in town.
In Bohol, the blaze started from a stall owned by Reynante Sadura at about 4 p.m. after fireworks accidentally exploded.
Reports said a customer was smoking a cigarette at Sadura’s stall.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that 31 more people were injured from firecracker blasts a day before the New Year’s Eve revelry.
This brings to 164 the total number of firecracker-related injuries monitored by the DOH in its 50 sentinel hospitals nationwide from 6 a.m. of Dec. 21 to 6 a.m. of Dec.31.
A report prepared by the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center (NEC) showed the figure is “24 cases lower than the previous three-year average or 72 cases lower than the same period last year.”
So far, the NEC registered only one stray bullet injury and no watusi ingestion incidence.
“Majority, or 138 (84 percent) were males, ages ranged from three to 71. Seventy-three of the cases were children 10 years and below. One hundred (61 percent) cases were from National Capital Region (NCR),” the report showed.
Following NCR, Region 1 accounts for 16 cases and Region VI for 14 cases. Ironically, Region III accounts for only six injuries, although it is where Bocaue, Bulacan – known as the country’s firecrackers capital – is located.
Of those injured, nine suffered amputation of the limbs. Ninety of the victims directly handled firecrackers.
“Piccolo is the most common type of firecracker used. Piccolo is now banned and will be confiscated,” the NEC added.
Piccolo is followed by Five Star, Triangle, Pla-pla and Kwitis, which is ironically allowed under the law.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials expressed disappointment over the Bocaue fireworks fire that happened after explosives experts of the bureau conducted safety seminars with members of the association of firecracker manufacturers.
Romulo Asis, NBI-Anti-Terrorism Division (ATD) chief, said since the third week of December several meetings were held with representatives of fireworks manufacturers.
During their meetings, “the fireworks dealers were advised to prepare fire extinguishers or water containers at the stores. Only three stores have fire extinguishers when NBI teams inspected the fireworks stalls.”
Members of the NBI-ATD Explosive Ordinance Division (EOD) also reminded the manufacturers that smoking and selling of street food that require fire, such as barbecue and fish balls, are prohibited.
The bureau also reminded manufacturers and the public that firecrackers and pyrotechnics should be kept in storage areas at room temperature. – With Arnell Ozaeta, Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sheila Crisostomo, Ric Sapnu, AP