A fire reportedly caused by exploding firecrackers destroyed portions of the public market here on Saturday night.

Police said a bakery and sections of a drugstore were also destroyed when the fire spread to a building across the market. Three vehicles -- an owner-type jeepney and two tricycles -- were also burned.

No one, however, was reported hurt in the fire that started at 8 or 9 p.m. and was put out at about 11 p.m.

Senior Insp. Cesar Balane, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) here, blamed the vendors' disregard of rules and regulations for the selling of firecrackers and pyrotechnic products for the fire.

He could not say how many stalls were destroyed.

Police estimated the damage to property at P8 million.

Police offered two possible causes of the fire.

In a radio interview, Balane said a wayward kuwitis (skyrocket firecracker) tested by either a vendor or a buyer landed on a pile of firecrackers and caused the explosion.

Police said vendors selling firecrackers, pyrotechnic and other products had crowded the sidewalk and portions of the streets around the city market.

Balane said the vendors disregarded the call of police and BFP officials to sell their products in a designated area.

"They were operating without a permit. They suddenly proliferated around the market," he said.

Balane said the two fire trucks posted near the market had a difficult time reaching the spot where the fire started because of people running and blocking the street.

The market compound's steel gates were also locked at the time of the fire as stall owners had ended their business hours.

The incident came on the heels of a fire that razed a mall in Ormoc City on Christmas Day, killing 25 persons. Exploding firecrackers reportedly caused that fire.

In Bulacan, the police seized more than P200,000 worth of banned firecrackers in Bocaue, Plaridel and Sta. Maria towns.

Supt. Jesus Gatchalian, acting Bulacan police director, said among the products confiscated were "pla-pla" firecrackers and items without labels.

In Baguio City, police officials on Sunday destroyed at least 25 improvised bazooka-like noisemakers called "boga," firecrackers and pyrotechnic products that lawmen seized earlier.

Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, Cordillera police director, and Senior Supt. Moises Guevarra, city police director, used mallets and picks to destroy the cannon-like noisemakers and placed the firecrackers in drums of water.

Gonzales said the items, worth P200,000, were confiscated from vendors who peddled them in unauthorized areas in the city.