Mandaue fire injures 3 people

CEBU, Philippines - Three people were injured in a fire that struck Belcris Foods Inc., a ham manufacturing firm in Barangay Alang-alang, Mandaue City last Monday night.

Those injured were identified as Dave Dungog, 34, Teofilo Sebugero, 52, and SFO3 Alex Pacencia, the team leader of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Mandaue City.

Dungog injured his right foot while Sebugero, 52, sustained injured his back and cut his right hand. Both were helping put out the fire. Pacencia, for his part, sustained a laceration on his chin when he fell off a refrigerated van where he positioned himself to assess the situation.

The Mandaue City Fire Station received the alarm at 7:05 p.m. from the Cebu City Fire Department. Belcris Foods Inc. is located in Plaridel St. in Barangay Alang-Alang.

SFO1 Arnold Lao, fire investigator, said, the alarm was only raised to first alarm. In fact, it was reportedly controlled when their fire truck arrived in the area. The employees of the firm used fire extinguishers.

Lao said the charcoal conventional type smoke house caught fire due to the accumulated presence of oil in the exhaust tube. The big fire in the smoke house caused other employees to panic and called the Cebu City fire Department for assistance.

Some of the employees managed to put out the fire before it caught other combustible materials inside the establishment, including Hams and other related products which are very in demand for the Christmas.

Lao said no other structures were affected by the fire. - THE FREEMAN