Fire hits historic Surigao City Hall

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — An afternoon fire gutted the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) of Surigao City on Sunday, destroying an estimated P7-million worth of equipment.

In a belated press statement emailed to The STAR yesterday by Mayor Alfonso Casurra, he said the fire razed the CPDO office and partially damaged the adjacent Office of the City Mayor at the historic Surigao City Hall.

The fire, which reportedly started at 3 p.m., destroyed the computers, digital printers/copiers and other office equipment of the CPDO and the mayor’s office.

"This does not include the highly valuable documents and records stored at the CPDO," Casurra said.

No one was injured during the blaze.

The National Historical Institute declared last year that the first raising of the Filipino Flag in Mindanao was held in the very site where the present Surigao City Hall is located.

The original City Hall building was constructed immediately after World War II. It replaced the old Municipal Hall, which was also razed by fire during the war.

Sunday’s fire, according to Casurra, was caused by "faulty electrical wiring."

Casurra noted that while the present City Hall had undergone many modifications and improvements through the years, the electrical wiring from the old structure is still being used today.

Casurra has ordered the total rewiring of the City Hall.