CEBU CITY, Philippines — A fire broke out shortly after midnight on Wednesday, gutting a hardware warehouse along St. Jude Street in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
Fire authorities estimated the damage caused by the fire at P1.4 million.
Ronieglen Lopez, a 20-year-old mechanic at the warehouse, said he noticed smoke coming from inside the building at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25.
READ: Morning fire razes Minglanilla Public Market
Lopez lives in a company-provided workers’ housing facility adjacent to the warehouse.
“Pag-abli nako sa bintana, didto nako nakita nga nagbaga na. Mao to nibaba ko kay nagkuha og tubig kay abi namo nga matabang ra namo pero wala na jud. Mao to namukaw nalang ko sa akong mga kauban,” he said.
READ: Cebu City fires: 9 families, dozens affected in Apas, Bacayan
(When I opened the window, I saw that the fire was already blazing. So I went downstairs to get some water because we thought we could still put it out, but we really couldn’t anymore. So I just woke up my companions.)
The fire was reported to authorities shortly after midnight.
The first alarm was raised at 1:06 a.m. as flames rapidly spread through materials stored inside the facility. The fire was placed under control at 1:14 a.m. and declared out at 1:24 a.m.
As of this posting, fire investigators are continuing to determine the cause of the fire.
The 13 warehouse employees displaced by the fire were also transferred to another area, where they will stay temporarily.
Read Next
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
