Early dawn fire razes five stalls

CEBU, Philippines - Five stalls were razed in a fire early dawn yesterday near the Cebu South Bus Terminal.

Stall owners were starting their day when the fire broke out which prompted stall owners and workers to scamper for safety.

Fire investigator 3 Lowel Opolentisima told The FREEMAN that a certain Charley Soon rushed to the Bureau of Fire Protection regional office on his motorcycle at 4:48 a.m. to report the incident.  

Fire trucks from the said station were immediately dispatched to the area while the fire already razed five pasalubong and dvd stalls. The fire was raised to first alarm with an estimated damage of P75, 000.

“Maayo nalang gali kay duol ang fire station ug nakaresponde dayon mi,” Opolentisima said.

According to Opolentisima, the fire was believed to have originated from the stall owned by Akman Sedak.

With most of the stalls made of light materials, the fire easily spread to four other stalls owned by Emma Facalna and Celine Atendes who lost three stalls that were only partially burned.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined although electrical misuse was eyed to be the culprit in yesterday’s blaze. 

Investigators said they will conduct further investigation on the incident. “Lisod i-determine ang cause sa sunog. Kinahanglan pa namo palawman ang imbestigasyon,” he said.

The fire department will invite the three owners of the stalls to aid in their investigation and identify the source of the blaze.

Since September, the fire department has continuously reminded the public to inspect their respective households and establishments’ electrical wiring as Christmas draws near.

Cebu City Fire Marshall Aderson Comar earlier reminded the public that pre-emptive measures should be taken seriously by the public to prevent power overloads which may lead to fire. 

The fire department pointed out that ber months usually result to a noted increase in the purchase of substandard electrical appliances and because of this, fire incidents in the city is expected to rise. (FREEMAN)