Minor fire hits NLRC office

CEBU, Philippines - Some records of labor cases were destroyed after a fire hit the office of the Regional Arbitration Branch-7 of the National Labor Relations Commission in Barangay Capitol Site Thursday night.

An old and defective ceiling fan triggered the fire, said RAB-7 bailiff Matthias Navarro. Their office is at the third floor of a building located at corner Osmeña Blvd. and Llorente St.

Navarro said he was about to head home at 8 p.m. when a bystander approached and told him that their office was on fire.

He said office hours ended at 6 p.m. but he opted to have a chat with some acquaintances outside the office prior to heading home.

He rushed to their office and saw some employees of an establishment at the second floor trying to get through to the smoke-filled area. Navarro said the said employees were able to destroy the padlock of their office with an axe.

Navarro said he turned on the light and was encouraged to go inside to trace the origin of the fire. He eventually saw one of the ceiling fans which had fallen on a pile of documents on a cabinet.

Firefighters arrived at the area and put out the fire which was starting to destroy documents. They agreed with Navarro that electrical misuse caused the fire.

“Actually ang wire to sa ceiling fan minglanay na tungod sa kainit. Problema man gud namo nang ceiling fan kay old na kaayo. Inig switch off, usahay dautan. Inig on nimo, muungot. Nagtuo ka nga ming-off na, nag-andar pa diay,” Navarro said.

Navarro said they have not yet disposed of the burned documents as they are still checking on them and most still appear to be legible. — (FREEMAN)