FIRE investigators are still conducting thorough investigation into the cause of the fire which gutted the former Pines Theatre along Session Road Monday evening, November 5.
According to Joy Baday Jaramel, a security guard of the Pines Northfield building, the fire started at around 7 p.m. Monday while he was about to close one of the windows of the building.
The incident lasted for two hours before it was declared fire out by personnel of Bureau of Fire Protection. Authorities are still assessing the damage.
The former Pines Theatre was one of the first movie houses established during the Commonwealth Period. It was renamed Pines Arcade and converted into garments stalls, gadget shops, and a food court.
Built in the 1930s, the cinema survived the carpet bombing during World War II.
Fire officials had to cut off the power, divert traffic in downtown Baguio and cancel the night market to give way to fire trucks and the vehicles of other responders which had to pass through Harrison Road.