Fire hits Las Piñas public market

A 10-hour blaze early yesterday morning destroyed P12-million worth of property and totally gutted the 700 square meter public market in Las Piñas City.

Arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 3 Roberto Nullan said the fire broke out at the Las Piñas public market, located at Zapote Junction, Barangay Zapote, at around 5:23 a.m. The fire was declared out only at 3:06 p.m. A total of 21 fire trucks belonging to the National Capital Region-Bureau of Fire Protection and volunteer brigades assisted in controlling the fire.

"The fire started at the vacant lot of the dry goods section, located at the middle left section of the market. There were a lot combustible materials such as coconut husks, liquor, plastic and garments that quickly caught fire," Nullan said.

Although there were already vendors and shoppers at the market early in the morning, no one was hurt in the blaze.

Apart from the goods and stalls, which were made of combustible or light materials, Nullan said they had difficulty putting out the fire because the roof was made of galvanized iron sheets and fell on the burning items. The firefighters had to remove each cover to make sure the fire would not rekindle.

"In fact, there was even a dealer of liquified petroleum gas ((LPG) in the market and we had to secure the gas tanks," he added.

He admitted there were speculations that the destruction of the market, estimated to be less than 15 years old, could have been intentional. But he said, he is still waiting for witnesses to come forward to shed light on the cause of the fire and determine if arson was indeed committed. — Evelyn Macairan