Fire razes to the ground establishments in Kidapawan City

KIDAPAWAN CITY —A predawn fire destroyed Friday at least 12 establishments in the city,  a fire officer said.

City Fire Marshal Captain Marjorie Resurreccion said the fire started in an internet cafe shop owned by a certain Don Silver De Leon, which was located along Datu Ingkal Street, just in front of a Church-run college institution. 

At past 2 a.m., the fire was seen engulfing business establishments, razing to the ground some of the structures, including a carenderia, boarding house, a print shop, and houses —with initial damage estimate at P1.5 million, Resurreccion said.

Bureau of Fire Protection in Kidapawan declared fire out around 5 am the fire that broke out around 2 am Friday that gutted down 12 establishments that include stores, boarding houses and residential house in front of a catholic school in Kidapawan City. —Photo by Williamor A. Magbanua

According to her, they have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but ruled out the possibility that it started in an open ground where piles of unused lumber and garbage.

"The wood piles were not totally burned.  We can still see traces of some lumber.  So, it was not possible the fire started there.  It has to be somewhere, and the nearest possibility is that, it started in a two-storey structure owned by De Leon," she said.

The Astro's Internet Shop, which was completely destroyed, was located on the upper level of the building, and below it was a boarding house.

"Witnesses informed us there was a party on Thursday night in the boarding house," Resurreccion said, adding, "there might be other possible cause of the fire aside from faulty electrical wiring."

Authorities declared fire under control at 4:10 a.m., and fire out, at around 5 a.m.

The fire on Friday dawn was the fifth in the city this November, data from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) showed.  —LBG, GMA News