Fire razes store, damages 2 houses

CEBU, Philippines - A general merchandise store was razed while two houses were partially damaged by fire yesterday afternoon along V. Rama Avenue, Barangay Calamba, Cebu City.

The fire which was immediately declared under control 10 minutes after the fire department received the alarm at 5:56 p.m. has burned MMH General Merchandise store owned by Joel Ramos.

 Fire Officer 2 Renato Borres said it was declared fire out at 6:50 p.m. or after almost an hour of firefighting operation.

Lelet Montezor, a saleslady, said they had just closed the store and were already out of the establishment when the fire started. Montezor said that as a standard practice, the store’s circuit breaker would be turned off after closing.

As they turned off the breaker yesterday they allegedly noticed something sparked from inside the store prompting, them to turn it on again and check. However, a flame suddenly engulfed the store and everything inside. The fire immediately spread at the adjacent houses.

Borres estimated the damage at P100,000. But the owner of the store said the actual damage could be around P2.5 million because there were luxury watches, appliances, and other merchandise razed by fire.  (FREEMAN)