MARIVELES, Bataan – Some P138 million worth of fertilizers was burned in a warehouse fire of still unknown cause over the weekend.
The warehouse, was as big as two basketball courts, is located inside the Seafront Shipyard in the seaside village of Lucanin in Mariveles, Bataan.
Senior Fire Officer 1 Romeo Abergas said amount of damage was placed at P3 million for warehouse and P135 million for the chemical fertilizers like urea and other contents of the building or a total of P138 million.
Workers said the warehouse allegedly owned by a foreign national was full of imported chemical fertilizers some marked “harvester” with new deliveries only made the other day by a vessel coming from a foreign country.
Senior Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said that security guard Joel Levantino suffered second degree burns on his feet but was already in stable condition. There was no report of other injuries.
Fire raged from one of the warehouses about 400 meters away from the front main gate of the shipyard.
Security guards, allegedly upon order of the management, barred mediamen despite repeated requests from entering the shipyard and going near the burning warehouse.
Abergas said the blaze started at 6:30 a.m. A dozen firetrucks responded that placed the fire under control at 9:30 a.m.
“Wala namang nadamay sa mga katabing bodega at maging sa maraming bahay sa iba-bang warehouse,” the fire officer said.
He said that they have to request chemical foam from the National Power Corporation Alliance to totally put off the raging fire that reached fourth alarm.
