Shop had no permit to sell firecrackers

The Firearms, Explosives Security Agency Guards Supervisory Section-7 confirmed that Ko Cua Commercial, one of the establishments along Lincoln Street destroyed by a fire last Thursday, is not authorized to sell or manufacture firecrackers.

Firefighters learned from other fire victims that Ko Cua Commercial, owned by a Taiwanese businessman, is renting a storeroom in the third floor of the same old wooden building where Cebu Classic Guitars is located.

"So far, kanang tindahana as far as our records are concerned, wala na silay lisensya nga magbaligya og firecrackers," FESAGSS-7 chief Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas said.

He added that he will be coordinating with the Cebu City Bureau of Fire Protection to determine if firefighters heard firecrackers exploding from the said store during the incident so that they can invite the owner for an investigation.

SFO2 Felix Romero, duty fire investigator of the scene, told reporters that during the fire they heard loud explosions which they believed were ignited stored pyrotechnics from Ko Cua Commercial.

The Cebu City Fire Department is now looking into the possibility that short electrical circuit could have caused the fire.

Cebu City fire marshal Esmael Codilla yesterday said that that initial findings show that the fire was caused by a short circuit. He said this was highly probable because most of the buildings in the area were old, most of them built just after World War II.

Codilla urged establishment owners to also inspect their electrical wirings at least once a year.

The fire last Thursday destroyed 17 business establishments, damage has been set a P3 million.

Meanwhile, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is supporting the suggestion of Vice Mayor Michael Rama that the Bureau of Fire should provide its local office here with adequate firefighting equipment to combat big fires.

Osmeña said the local fire bureau had adequate equipment when his father, former Cebu City Mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr., was in office. However, the equipment was reportedly transferred to the head office in Manila during Martial Law.

The mayor said the city government will eventually have to appropriate a budget to address the problem with the fire bureau. - Joeberth M. Ocao, Edwin Ian Melecio and Flor Z. Perolina