HAGONOY, Bulacan – A three hour fire razed to ground the public market along with five houses in this fishing town on Wednesday night, paralyzing trading at the fishport but local vendors said they will not hike prices.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said that three persons were injured including two firemen, and estimated the damages at P19-million, but other sources said it can reach to more than P50-million.
As this developed, water pumps mounted on fishing boats helped saved at least six houses and the municipal slaughter house beside the public market.
Fire Supt. Abasalom Zipagan, provincial fire marshall of Bulacan, said that the fire started at 7:33 p.m. and was put out at 10:30 p.m.
Citing testimony of witness Rodolfo Victorino, Zipagan said that vendors at the public market saw smoke billowing over the upper portion of a bread and candy store beside a feed supply stall on the northern portion of the public market.
He did not identify the cause of the fire yet as they are still conducting investigations, but witness Lito Aquino told Punto Central Luzon that before the smoke was seen, electrical wirings on the said stalls parked.
Aquino said that there was a commotion and some tricycle drivers called the municipal fire station which immediately responded.
While the firemen were trying to hose down fire, it instantly spread along the northern side of the public market building.
More fire trucks came minutes later as the BFP immediately was raised to second alarm. But it was not enough since the strong wind added fuel to the raging fire, keeping people who are trying to salvage goods at bay.
Few more minutes later, Gov. Willy Alvarado came along with Mayor Angel Cruz and Provincial Administrator Jim Valerio.
In a brief interview, Alvarado said that incident is the second in 24 years as another fire razed to ground the other side of the Hagonoy Public Market in 1986, when he was serving the acting Mayor of this town.
“Mayor Cruz and I will work together to help Hagonoy rise up again,” he said while admitting that the recent incident is another blow to the economy of this fishing town.
As the fire broke out of control, businessmen trading at the public market’s fishport scampered to safety leaving their goods behind.
This evidently paralyzed trading of aquamarine products that include milk fish, crabs, prawns, shrimps, mussels and others.
“Tumawid lang kami sa ilog at naiwan yung mga produkto at wala ng nailigtas,” said Rowena Romulo a local consignacion operator at the fishport.
She added that they have to start from scratch again in order to get back their business.
Meanwhile, two water pumps mounted on two separate motor boats helped save at least five residential houses on the southern side of the public market.
Jun Mangahas, owner of one of the houses climbed on the roof to pull the hose and started hosing down the fire gutting other houses.
“Kung wala yung water pump, ubos ang bahayan dito pati slaughter house,” Mangahas said.
At least five other houses were razed to ground during the fire. These include the houses own by Merlito Umali, Rico Sibedo, Bernardo Avestruz, Ricardo Chiong and Celso Morales.
As this developed, local residents proposed the acquisition of more motor -boat mounted water pump with long hoses as new fire fighting equipment in this coastal town noting its reliability and dependability.
“Sa bangka din lang nakasakay yung water pump na ginamit para mapigil yung sunog sa bahay ni Jun Cruz Reyes years ago, dapat ganun na lang ang gamitin ng Hagonoy, mura na hindi pa natatraffic at tiyak na hindi mauubusan ng tubig,” said Narciso Baesa, a local fish trader.
The same was echoed by Jojo Mateo who stressed that water is in abundance in this coastal town and people only need to utilize it especially during fire incidents.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said that three persons were injured including two firemen, and estimated the damages at P19-million, but other sources said it can reach to more than P50-million.
As this developed, water pumps mounted on fishing boats helped saved at least six houses and the municipal slaughter house beside the public market.
Fire Supt. Abasalom Zipagan, provincial fire marshall of Bulacan, said that the fire started at 7:33 p.m. and was put out at 10:30 p.m.
Citing testimony of witness Rodolfo Victorino, Zipagan said that vendors at the public market saw smoke billowing over the upper portion of a bread and candy store beside a feed supply stall on the northern portion of the public market.
He did not identify the cause of the fire yet as they are still conducting investigations, but witness Lito Aquino told Punto Central Luzon that before the smoke was seen, electrical wirings on the said stalls parked.
Aquino said that there was a commotion and some tricycle drivers called the municipal fire station which immediately responded.
While the firemen were trying to hose down fire, it instantly spread along the northern side of the public market building.
More fire trucks came minutes later as the BFP immediately was raised to second alarm. But it was not enough since the strong wind added fuel to the raging fire, keeping people who are trying to salvage goods at bay.
Few more minutes later, Gov. Willy Alvarado came along with Mayor Angel Cruz and Provincial Administrator Jim Valerio.
In a brief interview, Alvarado said that incident is the second in 24 years as another fire razed to ground the other side of the Hagonoy Public Market in 1986, when he was serving the acting Mayor of this town.
“Mayor Cruz and I will work together to help Hagonoy rise up again,” he said while admitting that the recent incident is another blow to the economy of this fishing town.
As the fire broke out of control, businessmen trading at the public market’s fishport scampered to safety leaving their goods behind.
This evidently paralyzed trading of aquamarine products that include milk fish, crabs, prawns, shrimps, mussels and others.
“Tumawid lang kami sa ilog at naiwan yung mga produkto at wala ng nailigtas,” said Rowena Romulo a local consignacion operator at the fishport.
She added that they have to start from scratch again in order to get back their business.
Meanwhile, two water pumps mounted on two separate motor boats helped save at least five residential houses on the southern side of the public market.
Jun Mangahas, owner of one of the houses climbed on the roof to pull the hose and started hosing down the fire gutting other houses.
“Kung wala yung water pump, ubos ang bahayan dito pati slaughter house,” Mangahas said.
At least five other houses were razed to ground during the fire. These include the houses own by Merlito Umali, Rico Sibedo, Bernardo Avestruz, Ricardo Chiong and Celso Morales.
As this developed, local residents proposed the acquisition of more motor -boat mounted water pump with long hoses as new fire fighting equipment in this coastal town noting its reliability and dependability.
“Sa bangka din lang nakasakay yung water pump na ginamit para mapigil yung sunog sa bahay ni Jun Cruz Reyes years ago, dapat ganun na lang ang gamitin ng Hagonoy, mura na hindi pa natatraffic at tiyak na hindi mauubusan ng tubig,” said Narciso Baesa, a local fish trader.
The same was echoed by Jojo Mateo who stressed that water is in abundance in this coastal town and people only need to utilize it especially during fire incidents.
