AN early evening fire destroyed some business establishments and residences in Barangay Poblacion, Badian on Tuesday, April 16.

Fire fighters pegged the fire that hit the town at around P2 million.

Fire Officer 2 Gibson Hortelano of the Moalboal Police Station said the fire reportedly started at the Foodstrip Express, a carenderia situated across the Badian Sports Complex, at around 8:48 p.m. on Tuesday.

Hortelano said since Badian has no fire department, their local fire department in Moalboal was in charge of responding to the incident.

Firefighters from Moalboal were able to reach the fire scene at around 10 minutes.

Upon seeing the fire already increasing at a faster rate, Hortelano said they immediately raised the fire at second alarm, which prompted neighboring fire units from Dumanjug, Alegria and Malabuyoc to respond.

The fire was eventually controlled at around 9:38 p.m.

Five business establishments and two residential buildings were destroyed by the blaze.

Hortelano said based on accounts from witnesses, an liquified petroleum gas (LPG) tank left unattended inside the carenderia may have caused the fire.

But their investigators are still conducting further investigation to determine the true cause of the blaze. (JKV)