3 firemen hurt in Makati blaze

Three firemen were hurt while putting out a fire that gutted a hardware store on J.P. Rizal street in Makati City late Friday.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Bong Peralta, SFO1 Alvin Villamor and FO3 Francisco Sergio, of the City Fire Station, sustained first degree burns in different parts of the body when flames hit them as they alighted from a firetruck.

"Kung mamalasin ka nga naman," Sergio lamented. "Imagine, kakarating lang namin, kami pa tinamaan nung apoy. Pero ganyan talaga sa trabaho namin."

Sergio sustained burns in the nape and ears, while Peralta had injuries in the left arm and Villamor in his right arm and leg.

Probers said the fire started at around 10:30 p.m. at the Permanent Hardware owned by Isabel Chua.

The blaze immediately spread to four houses at the back of the establishment before the firemen arrived.

Firemen said the security guard of the store was partly to blame for the delay since he had to run to the nearest barangay outpost two blocks away to report the incident.

"He told us that he did not know the number of the fire or police station, which is clearly a violation of standard procedures. We received the report at 10:40 p.m. from a resident in the area," Sergio explained.

The fire, which destroyed at least P5 million worth of property, started from the area of the store containing lumber.

More than 30 firetrucks responded to the fire, which reached Task Force Bravo before being put out at 1:18 a.m. the next day.

Sergio said they have yet to determine the cause of fire.

"The guard said the store was closed at 7 p.m. We wanted to make sure if the store attendants switched off electric devices before they left," he said.