Fires raze Army building, 2 warehouses in Taguig

MANILA, Philippines - Fires destroyed a building in the Philippine Army headquarters at Fort Bonifacio and two warehouses in Taguig City yesterday.

Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said the Army Support Command’s administrative building, which houses various documents and office equipment, burned to the ground.

The fire started at past midnight at the right wing of the building and was extinguished just before 2 a.m. The fire destroyed about P30 million worth of property.

Sgt. Rodeline Sobrapena sustained a slight hand injury and was immediately brought to the Army General Hospital. A team from the Bureau of Fire Protection-Taguig is investigating the cause of the fire.

Cabunoc said the burned documents – which included records of operations and Army personnel – could be recovered since they have electronic backup copies.

“The operations of the Army Support Command will not be hampered since the affected personnel can move to other offices temporarily,” he said in a phone interview.

Cabunoc said the burned building was the temporary office of the Army Support Command since the unit is about to relocate to Camp Aquino in Tarlac City.

He said the building, which is located in front of the Army soccer field, would soon become the site of a development project of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

In another part of Taguig, about P12 million worth of property went up in smoke in a six-hour fire that razed two warehouses in Barangay Bagumbayan yesterday.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire as the employees of Dainippon Ink and Chemicals Phils. Inc. (DIC) and Sanitary Care Asia are blaming each other for the fire.

City fire marshal Chief Inspector Junito Maslang said the DIC guard heard an explosion at past 9 a.m., but could not determine where the blast originated.

“The guard from DIC said it came from Sanitary Care, while the guard from Sanitary Care is blaming DIC,” Maslang said, adding that DIC was not in operation at the time of the fire.

No one was hurt, but Maslang said firefighters had difficulty putting out the fire at Sanitary Care’s warehouse, since most of its products are paper and other combustible material.