SunStar Dumaguete, Nov. 10, 2005
FIRE probers continued to sift through burnt rubbles as of press time to determine the cause of fire that ate up P15 million worth of properties along Locsin Street in Dumaguete City's busiest commercial district about noon Sunday.
No one was reported injured in the fire incident, which is the worst this year since the burning of the old city prosecutor's office at City Hall last April.
Chief Inspector Arnulfo Sayson, head of the Dumaguete City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), said initial investigations into the two-hour noonday fire that gutted nine shops and offices determined the conflagration started on the second floor of Sanco Commercial.
However, Sayson admitted that the cause of the fire remained unknown.
Sayson said the investigations were still continuing about a reported explosion before the disaster, which was believed to have triggered the fire to spread swiftly.
The fire gobbled Po's Marketing, RSB Optical, Sanco Commercial, Tan Optical and Bicycle Supply, and Lu Pega building that housed M. Lhuillier Pawnshop, PS Mart, Cecile Furniture, Dreamland Travel and Tours, Flying High Tours, Rel Invest Lending, Intertrade Credit Corporation, Coraf Lending, Ybanez Energy Saver, the office of the Bureau of Immigration, and a book rental.
Fire trucks from Bayawan City, Sta. Catalina, Siaton, Valencia, Bais City, Tanjay City, San Jose, Sibulan, the Chinese Fire Volunteers, Silliman University Volunteers, and one from businessman Danilo Solon responded the fire incident.
The burned section is part of the block that houses the former Ong Ming Glass and Aluminum Supply, Fortune Mart, Abian Shoe Repair Shop, a dress shop, and Lee Super Plaza along Perdices street, Cang's 2, and an open air restaurant, among others along Maria Cristina street.
