Kidapawan fire razes P200M in property

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- More than P200 million worth of goods and other products sold inside this city's biggest shopping center were razed in a fire that started around 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Six firefighters who responded to the fire call were wounded in the incident, said Marlon Ceballos, head of a group of fire volunteers.

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Four of the wounded were identified only as Patrick, Jepoi, one surnamed Pelarios and a certain Rommel Padillo.

City fire marshal Darwin Custodio said the fire, which started at Kidapawan Mega Commercial Center (KMCC) Mall, was finally put off after almost four hours.

Two of the city's fire trucks were immediately dispatched in the area.

Other fire trucks coming from nearby towns in North Cotabato and Davao del Sur and at least eight water tankers of the Dole Stanfilco, a banana company from Makilala town, also responded to the fire scene.

Authorities have yet to establish the cause of the fire.

But Dyan, one of the workers of the KMCC, said that few minutes after the scheduled blackout in the city, she heard an explosion in an area where the mall's generator was located.

“When we checked on the site, we saw smoke that immediately caught highly combustible products stored in the mall's warehouse,” Dyan said.

The fire also caught the building of Rizal Commercial Banking Center (RCBC), LCE Trading, a food court, cell phone stores, eye clinic, school supplies center, and the mall's grocery center.

An official from the RCBC branch, however, has assured their clients that everything would be alright and that banking hours would resume Wednesday.

Monday’s fire in this city was the second to hit North Cotabato since March 1, the first day of the Fire Prevention Month.

Last week, four houses located inside Plang Village at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) Main Campus in Kabacan were also razed in a fire. (Malu Cadelina Manar/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)