Not less than 100 stalls were damaged by the fire that hit the Danao City Public Market on June 2, 2022. | Photo courtesy of the Danao City Gov’t
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Regional Fire Arson Investigation and Intelligence Division (RFAIID-7) of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Central Visayas (BFP-7) has taken over the investigation of the fire that hit the public market in Danao City last week.
Senior Fire Officer (SFO1) Ronald Telledua, investigator of the Danao City Fire Station, said this protocol applies when damage caused by a fire exceeds P40 million.
Danao City fire investigators pegged the damage caused by the June 2 fire to have reached P52.2 million after it razed at least 80 percent of the market stalls.
For this reason, Telledua said, the RFAIID-7 will already takeover investigation of the fire incident starting on Tuesday, June 7.
But they will continue to extend assistance to RFAIID-7 investigators when needed, Telledua said.
Quoting the outcome of their initial investigation, Telledua said, the fire was traced to have started at the stall of vendor Janice Capul.
However, they are yet to determine what may have caused the flame that later on spread to other nearby stalls.
Telledua said investigation of the market fire may take time to complete because of the need to take samples of the debris found at the fire scene and secure the testimony of some vendors and other witnesses.
He said that the city’s public market will remain closed and clearing operations will not be allowed while investigation is ongoing.
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/ dcb