Firecrackers for sale trigger market fire in Maguindanao del Norte

COTABATO CITY — Eleven stores in the public market of Upi town in Maguindanao del Norte were razed by a fire on Thursday afternoon, December 26. The fire reportedly started in a stall selling firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

Local executives and officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection based in the municipality told reporters on Friday, December 27, that responding firemen and members of the Upi Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office had doused off the fire about an hour after it broke out, preventing its spread to other stores around.

Upi Mayor Rona Piang-Flores, chairperson of the multi-sectoral and inter-agency Upi Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said they would release a final report on the incident soon.

The office of Bangsamoro Social Services Minister Raissa Jajurie immediately extended initial relief support to the merchants affected by the incident through their ministry's municipal office in Upi, about 39 kilometers from Cotabato City, the capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.