Stalls located on the second floor of the Alcoy Public Market were damaged by a fire that broke in the area Friday night, June 4. | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A Friday night fire damaged at least 17 stalls located on the second floor of the public market in Alcoy town in southern Cebu.
Fire Officer 1 (FO1) Michael Sabal of the Dalaguete Fire Station said the fire damaged nearly three-fourth of the second floor stalls leaving a damage of at least P4 million.
Most of the vendors in the area sell RTWs and food. There are also those who operate sari-sari stories, he said.
Luckily, stalls located on the ground floor of the 1,080 square-meter building were spared.
The fire broke shortly after 7 p.m. or about two hours after the public market located in Barangay Poblacion was closed for the day.
Market operations are only allowed until 5 p.m. in Alcoy town.
Sabal said they received the call for assistance at 7:20 p.m. But it took them approximately 35 minutes to arrive in the locality that is located seven kilometers away from their substation.
Alcoy town, a 5th class municipality on Cebu Province, does not have its own fire substation.
Sabal said that the fire was raised to second alarm at 7:55 p.m before it was placed under control 35 minutes later or about an hour after it broke.
Tenants, who were affected by the Friday night fire, are scheduled to meet with the public market administrator this Saturday, June 5, to discuss their concerns.
Fire Officer (FO2) Dexter Gilbolingo, in a report, said that they continue to investigate the cause of the fire. At the same time, he is reminding market tenants to always exercise caution and make sure that all electrical connections are unplugged before they close their stalls.
“Atong i check atoang electrical wirings unya og maglung-ag ta, I check nato ang atong mg LPGs. If maggamit tag mga firewood, I secure gyud nga (palong) na gyud siya,” Gilbolingo said.
(Always check the electrical wirings even while cooking rice, check the LPGs. When using firewood, make sure that the fire was already put out before you go.) / dcb
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