P25-million properties destroyed in Valenzuela fire

MANILA, Philippines - An estimated P25 million properties went up in smoke during a one-hour fire yesterday at a factory in Valenzuela City.

Fire Officer 1 John Noel Sentillas, of the Valenzuela City fire department, said that the Insulite Manufacturing Corp. in Barangay Paso de Blas was “totally razed.”

“The roof of the warehouse-type building fell on the ground as everything underneath it were burned,” Sentillas told The STAR.

Sentillas, a radio operator of the Valenzuela City fire department, said that he received a fire alarm from the Insulite firm on HHB Compound, Miranda street in Barangay Paso de Blas at around 9:10 a.m.

“In a few minutes, the conflagration swallowed the whole structure because it contained highly flammable substances,” Setillas said.

He said that the firm was engaged in manufacturing ceiling insulation materials and it uses flammable chemicals in its operations.

Firefighters and fire volunteers from neighboring cities with more than 20 firetrucks were able to contain the blaze within the factory’s compound but they failed to salvage a single equipment of the firm, Sentillas said.

It took the firemen more than an hour battling the blaze that reached Task Force Bravo before finally putting it off at around 10:45 a.m.

Sentillas said that the local arson investigators were still gathering more information as of press time to determine what triggered the fire that destroyed some P25 million worth of properties.