North Harbor fire lasts 14 hours

MANILA, Philippines - The fire that struck the Manila North Harbour Centre Monday lasted until early yesterday morning, or almost 14 hours, and destroyed more than P1 million worth of property.

Arson investigator FO2 Lords Hernandez said that the fire started at around 12:58 p.m. Monday and lasted until 3:20 a.m. yesterday.

Nobody was reported hurt in the blaze and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The fire burned some 7,000 old tires stored at the Taiwan Cement Corp. (TCC) compound at the Manila Harbour Centre in Tondo.

Hernandez said the combustible material of the tires and the thick smoke it emitted made it difficult for firefighters to put out the blaze.

He said firefighters managed to contain the fire within the TCC compound.

The blaze razed a portion of the TCC factory, which is currently being used by the Solid Cement Corp.

“The smoke from the burning tires caused more damage to the factory than the actual fire,” Hernandez said.