Fire hits Harbor Center in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - A fire of still undetermined cause razed a used spare tire warehouse at the Harbor Center compound at the North Harbor in Tondo, Manila yesterday.

There were no reports of injury or death in the four-hour fire, which reached the fourth alarm, according to Balut police station chief Superintendent Roderick Mariano.

The fire, which started at around 12:15 p.m., destroyed the Taiwan Cement Corp. warehouse where used spare tires were temporarily stored prior to its transshipment to Cebu, before it was put out at around 4:45 p.m.

Mariano deployed some policemen to secure the Harbor Center from looters. The compound also houses several firms, including the Makro wholesale store.

Arson investigators are still trying to find out what caused the fire and assess how much property was destroyed in the blaze.

In another incident, a lamppost on Corral street, near a residential area in Tondo, caught fire at around 5:51 p.m. yesterday. The fire was put out at around 6:11 p.m.

Fire investigators said the cause of the lamppost fire was electrical.