Fire guts Prince Warehouse store

CEBU, Philippines - A security guard was injured after he tried to contain the fire that razed the Prince Warehouse Mart branch he was keeping watch in Daanbantayan town Saturday morning.

The town fire station, whose firetruck was under repair, reported that a broken glass cut Reynaldo Auman in the right arm after he tried to stop the fire, which caused an estimated P1 million damage.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Roger Loro, Daanbantayan Fire Station officer-in-charge, said in a telephone interview that they received the alarm at 11:45 a.m. and that they declared it as second alarm minutes later.

He said they managed to place the fire under control at 12:40 p.m. and put it out five minutes after.

Initial investigation revealed that the fire originated from the establishment’s “buffer storage area,” where unused carton boxes and expired products were placed.

“Sa ibabaw nga portion sa buffer area niagi ang kayo kay dunay opening, nitapon sa bodega; didto ang dakong damage,” Loro said.

The fire spread quickly because most of the items in the storage area were mostly combustible materials.

Loro said they ruled out electrical short-circuit as cause of the fire because the area has no electrical wirings.

Instead, he said, they are looking at the possibility that an indiscriminately thrown cigarette or left behind by an employee triggered the blaze.

“Duha ra ang origin, depende sa resulta sa interview sa empleyado—upos sa sigarilyo or spontaneous combustion,” Loro said.

The town fire station has already invited five employees who went to the “buffer storage area” before the fire broke for their statements.

Loro said that though they received the alarm at 11:45 a.m., they still had to call the neighboring Kawit, Medellin Fire Substation for help since their firetruck was not operational.

Aside from two from Medellin, firetrucks from neighboring Bogo City and San Remigio town also responded to the fire that gutted the whole main warehouse.

Loro said April last year, their firetruck’s water tank leaked and that the chassis is now slowly rotting because of the machine’s continued disuse.

“Dako ni siya’g damage, di lang engine; hasta ang tangke buslot nga ni-cause og lata sa chassis,” he said.

He added that he already sent a request to the Bureau of Fire Protection national office for a new truck but that they do not know if it would be approved. (FREEMAN)