Fire hit 28 stalls at the Bacolod City North Public Market at Burgos Street at about 12:55 a.m. yesterday and destroyed P1.5 million worth of merchandise.

Twelve of the 28 stalls, were razed to the ground while the rest were only damaged, City fire marshal, Chief Insp. Pamela Rojane Candido said.

Investigation showed that the fire originated from the eatery of Marilyn Guanco located at building B, and rapidly spread to other stalls, eventually reaching to building C.

Candido said the buildings were already old and that caused the easy spread of the fire that also could have been caused by the overheating a of 40-watt fluorescent ballast.

Fire fighters from the City’s fire bureau and volunteers from the Amity and Chamber fire brigades put the fire out at about 1:50 a.m. with no one reported injured.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia who was at the fire scene was at the market again yesterday afternoon with engineers from the city to assess the damage caused by the fire.

Councilor Ceasar Distrito, chairman of Sangguniang Panglungsod Market Committee, said they already have a program of work for the repair of the Burgos market and have allotted P4 million for it.

Distrito said that the P4 million was intended for the repair of the roof especially at the fish section but because of the fire, it will be utilized for the reconstruction of the damaged stalls instead.

The city’s fire bureau reminded the public again to check all electrical connection and make sure that appliances are unplugged to avoid fire incidents.

BFP records show that there have been 133 fire incidents recorded in the city from January to April of this year, and only 115 in the same period last year.*APN

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