Military loses 200 firearms in Zamboanga blaze

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) lost more than 200 assault rifles and machine guns in a fire that razed its firearms supply building in Zamboanga del Sur over the weekend.

Belated reports reaching the Armed Forces of the Philippines' main headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo said that the blaze that hit the 1st Infantry Division Training Unit (IDTU) Supply building at Upper Labangan, Pulacan in Pagadian City, started with an explosion.

the blaze took place shortly after midnight on Saturday.

The firearms lost in the blaze include a caliber .50 and a caliber .30 machine guns, an M60 machine gun, 51 M-14 assault rifles,  one M-653 rifle, an M4 rifle, one M-79 grenade launcher, four M16 with M203 grenade launcher, two spare barrels for M60 machine guns, 131 pieces of M16 assault rifles, four K-3 assault rifles (Minimi), four spare barrels for K3 rifles and five caliber .45 pistols.

Initial investigation conducted by fire investigators showed that faulty electrical wiring could have caused the blaze.

There was no mention, however, about the explosion prior to the blaze on the findings filed by Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Richard Cafino.

Cafino said the fire started at an unoccupied room of a certain Capt. Orlando Tamayo, relieved IDTU officer.

Tamayo was on his new assignment in Calamba, Misamis Occidental when the fire engulfed his place, which he is still using as he was just relieved last March 1.

The fire officer added that a fuse of a safety switch inside Tamayo’s room was busted and was only functioning through a jumper.