Fires hit 2 hospitals in QC, Taguig

Fires broke out at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City and the St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Taguig yesterday, causing damages worth P2 million.

The fire started at the VMMC cooperative office and may have been caused by faulty wiring, officials said.

The blaze destroyed the merchandise the cooperative was to sell at a flea market and damaged the canteen, the social welfare office, a seminar room, and a pharmacy stall.

“There was no need to evacuate the patients... The (hospital) attendants asked us if they had to transfer the patients but we were able to confine the fire in just one area,” said Chief Inspector Oscar Villegas, commander of the Quezon City Fire District-Station 1.

He said the fire was reported at 3:55 a.m. and they were able to put it out at around 5:30 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Case investigator SFO2 Virgilio Agpaoa said they were still determining the cause of the blaze.

Meanwhile, Taguig fire chief Capt. Buenaventura Cuevas said a cooling system at the roof deck of the SLMC, which is still under construction, caught fire at about 11:35 a.m. and was put out an hour later.

One of four closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, newly installed by the city government in Fort Bonifacio, detected the fire as it was beginning and firefighters were able to respond within a few minutes.

No one was reported injured in the fire, which caused damage to property estimated at P1 million.   – Reinir Padua, Rhodina Villanueva