MANILA, Philippines — A two-hour fire quickly engulfed the University of the Philippines (UP) Shopping Center in Quezon City yesterday morning, razing dozens of stalls and causing at least P500,000 in structural damage.
Firefighters said the blaze broke out at the ceiling of one of the establishments in the one-story building along Laurel street at the UP-Diliman campus.
Guards reported the fire to authorities when they could no longer handle the growing blaze at around 7:14 a.m.
Firefighters said the fire quickly reached the second alarm due to light materials such as papers and books in the stores.
The fire was put out at around 8:53 a.m. but responders had to continue “overhauling” until noon to prevent embers from rekindling.
Senior Fire Officer 4 Joeboy Lagnason sustained lacerations on his right hand.
Fire Inspector Rosendo Cabillan said they are eyeing faulty electrical wiring since it was reported that the fire started in the ceiling.
Store owners expressed disbelief over the fire, as some of them have been operating at the UP Shopping Center since it opened in 1976, one of whom is engineer Lorenz Torres, owner of the Zodiac Convenience store, a place he said was known for its ice cream and snacks.
Torres said that he was at home in Tandang Sora and quickly rushed to the UP Shopping Center when his relative studying at the campus informed him of the fire.
“Devastated. Andiyan yung buhay mo. Hindi pa mag-sisink in. Parang nakakagulat,” he said in an interview.
Torres said that he knows that UP Shopping Center would always be remembered for their cheap but great service for students.
The UP Shopping Center may need to be demolished as the initial assessment by fire officials said the structure cannot be salvaged, UP-Diliman chancellor Michael Tan said.
He vowed to provide temporary relocation sites to the affected concessionaries.
Tan also urged the deans and professors to compassionate to students who may have lost documents to the fire.
The UP administration is planning to establish a new building within a year but Tan said their hands are tied since the plan is based on funding from the government.