Rodents triggered ammo dump fire

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija – The military has ruled out sabotage and blamed rodents as the cause of the fire that gutted the ammunition depository at the headquarters of the army’s 6th infantry division in Awang, Maguindanao last Friday.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado said here that the investigating team from the Cotabato City fire department that looked into the incident said in its report that the intrusion of rats into the facility, which houses old 60mm and 81mm mortar rounds, triggered the blaze.

“Their initial findings showed that the investigators found a lot of rodent droppings in the area, so these creatures might have gnawed up propellant charges and exposed the chemicals to natural elements, causing a chemical reaction and eventually the fire,” he said.

This, according to him, exposes the custodians of the said facility to some liabilities for not having prevented the intrusion of rodents into the ammunition stock house.

He did not say, however, if charges would be filed against some personnel directly in charge of the facility, technically dubbed “magazine.”

“There was no sabotage. The place is guarded and any intrusion by any unauthorized person would be noticed by the guards, who are positioned some 20 meters away from the facility,” Ibrado said.

The fire, which was aggravated by exploding mortar rounds, caused total destruction to the building, with everything that is inside either burned or exploded. There was also a slight damage on the roof of the adjacent ammunition house.

The incident was reported Friday, 4:20 a.m. The guards on duty claimed in their testimonies to have heard a whistling sound and have seen a bright light inside the Ammunition Dump 3, after which came simultaneous and successive loud explosions from the stock house.

As a result of the incident, the 6th Infantry Division lost propellant charges, fuses and primers for 105mm and 155mm howitzer.

However, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, said in a separate statement that these losses will not affect the present conduct of operation of the 16th Field Artillery Battalion within the 6th ID area of responsibility.