Baguio City Public Market fire damage estimated to reach P24M

The damage caused by a fire that hit the Baguio City Public Market over the weekend may reach P24 million, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said.

Almost half of the public market was engulfed by the fire, according to a report by Nico Waje on Unang Balita on Monday.

The fire started at 11:08 p.m. Saturday and reached the fourth alarm before it was put out at 4:38 a.m. on Sunday.

"Medyo natagalan tayo kasi ang mga bagay na nasusunog mga light material na madaling magliyab. Kailangan ng tulong ng ibang stations sa Benguet," Baguio City Fire Station public information officer Senior Fire Officer 1 Lloyd Ashley Furigay said.

(It took us a while to put the fire out because the items were made of light material that were flammable. We needed the help of other [fire] stations in Benguet.)

The Baguio City local government has already coordinated with the affected vendors.

They were allowed to sell on the market roads for the meantime while negotiations are ongoing for the market's relocation site under a public-private partnership (PPP) project.

Meanwhile, the public market has been made off limits following the incident. —KG, GMA Integrated News