Carbon Market vendors to be trained for fire safety

Firemen took five hours to put out the fire which destroyed Unit III of the Carbon Market in Barangay Ermita on November 29, 2018. | CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Carbon Market is a high-risk area for fire incidents in Cebu City, and the vendors should be ready for any disaster.

This was the statement of Jonil Mantugina, the head of the Cebu City Market Authority, a year after the Carbon Market Unit III was engulfed in a fire that destroyed the three-story building which housed the Market Authority Office and at least 100 stalls.

Read: Fire destroys Unit III of Carbon Market

On November 29, 2018, the Unit III building was burned in a fire after a snapping of a live wire resulting in a transformer exploding near the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, Enhancement (PROBE) warehouse inside the market.

Mantugina said with so many goods coming in and out of the market, it will always be a fire hazard.

Because of this, he said the vendors and market authority staff will have to undergo fire safety training to prepare them for any possible fire. Mantugina didn’t say, though, when this will be done.

“Mostly the cause of the fire is usually faulty electrical wirings, so we will also monitor these closely especially this Christmas when there will be a lot of Christmas lights and decorations turned on,” said Mantugina.

Mantugina said they want to avoid another fire as big as that in 2018 because this will disrupt the market operations and can cause the vendors to lose their profit.

He said they also purchased fire extinguishers to prepare for any fire.

The Market Authority is continuously monitoring the stalls to ensure that highly combustible materials will be stored properly and far from risk of burning.

He urged the vendors to store highly combustible materials properly and prepare drums of water near their stalls if necessary as mitigating measures in case of fire. /bmjo