Fire razes school building in Caloocan

An estimated P15 million worth of property went up in smoke when a two-hour fire razed one of Manila Central University’s buildings before dawn yesterday in Caloocan City.

Caloocan City fire marshal, Senior Superintendent Romeo Villafuerte, said that the blaze destroyed the four-story MCU Foundation building located at Simon and EDSA streets near the Monumento area.

The gutted edifice houses the university’s computer and laboratory rooms in the fourth floor, the faculty and administration rooms on the third floor and the School of Business Administration and Trade classrooms.

The building’s second floor is being utilized as storage area by stall owners occupying portions of the ground floor.

SFO3 Randy Resurreccion, the city’s arson investigation chief, said investigation showed that the fire was triggered by an explosion at the building’s main electrical connection near a dry goods stall owned by a certain Aling Cora at about 12:10 a.m.

"According to witnesses they saw sparks coming from the main electrical circuit and was followed by an explosion. But we are still investigating," Resurreccion said.

The fire spread rapidly to adjacent stalls and billowed up to the building’s fourth floor, Resurreccion added.

Combined efforts by 50 firetrucks from the Caloocan fire bureau and nearby localities put out the fire at about 2:45 a.m. No one was injured in the incident. – Pete Laude