Arson eyed in Binondo fire

MANILA, Philippines — A fire that gutted four decades-old buildings in Binondo on Monday may have been deliberately set off, the Manila Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said yesterday.

The buildings included the Land Management Bureau and the Juan Luna building, which housed the National Archives of the Philippines administrative office.

“What made the fire suspicious was it started at past midnight after the weekend and with only four guards on duty,” said Senior Inspector Reden Alumno, arson chief of the Manila BFP.

The fire started at around 12:36 a.m. on Monday at the LMB building and spread to the 150 Plaza Cervantes, Moraga Mansion and the Juan Luna building.

Alumno said the guards on duty reportedly heard a sound from the seventh floor of the LMB building, which was used for events or flag-raising ceremonies, before they discovered the fire.

The unusual speed by which the fire spread from the seventh floor to the lower floors is under investigation since it was “impossible,” he said.

“If the building was made of purely concrete materials, it (fire) was not supposed to spread down. But if there is wood, it’s possible,” he added.

The fire alert was declared Task Force Alpha at 1:13 a.m., Task Force Bravo at 1:30 a.m., and Task Force Charlie at 9 a.m.

After 22 hours, it was finally put out at around 10:38 p.m. on Monday.

Fire Chief Inspector Crossib Cante explained that the flames from the LMB spread quickly to the surrounding buildings because there was little space between the four structures.

Authorities are still trying to determine the amount of damages, although thousands of land titles and close to P100 million worth of LMB equipment were reportedly destroyed.

Meanwhile, a shopping mall in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo was also hit by fire yesterday morning.

The BFP said the fire started at around 10 a.m. at the Manila City Plaza mall but it was placed under control less than an hour later.

No one was injured in the fire, which reached first alarm.

Arson probers have yet to determine what caused the fire and the value of the goods destroyed.