A fire destroyed the first floor of a two-story school gymnasium in Quezon City before dawn yesterday.
Since the blaze broke out before school hours, no one was reported injured, said Chief Inspector Oscar Villegas, commander of the Quezon City Fire District Station 1.
He said the fire started at 2:38 a.m. at the ground floor of the gymnasium of Grace Christian College in Grace Village, Barangay Balingasa. The fire was put out at 4:34 a.m.
Villegas said among those destroyed by the fire were books stored in the gymnasium and some sports equipment.
There were also student lockers in the area, he said.
“The ground floor was totally gutted and the damaged items are worth more or less P1 million,” Villegas said.
He said they were still determining what caused the blaze.
According to unverified reports, the fire may have been caused by an electrical malfunction and that some flammable substances, including cans of paint thinner, were stored in the gymnasium.
An explosion was reportedly heard when the blaze broke out. As firefighters were putting out the blaze, an electric cable sparked and caused a minor explosion. – Reinir Padua