Napocor power barge catches fire

LEGAZPI CITY — An eight-hour fire totally damaged the engine and power rooms of a power barge of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) docked at the Masbate City port past midnight yesterday, rendering the 13 Masbate towns and Masbate City without electricity.

Lt. Commander Edgar Buado, the Coast Guard’s Masbate chief, said the fire, believed caused by a fuel leak in the engine room, struck at about 12:30 a.m. and was put out at about 8:30 a.m.

No one was hurt in the blaze, Buado said.

Rodel de la Cruz, operator of the Masbate power plant, said the 14.4-megawatt power barge was the one supplying electricity to Masbate City and the 13 Masbate towns, except for Mobo whose power requirements are being supplied by a three-megawatt power plant.

De la Cruz said they would connect Masbate City to the Mobo power plant to restore power there anytime today.

"We could probably restore 60 percent of the power service in Masbate City," he said in a phone interview

He said it could take about a month to fully restore the power barge due to the badly damaged control rooms. — Cet Dematera, Celso Amo and Nestor Etolle