According to Fire Marshall Josie Lising, the conflagration started at around 4:45 p.m. which was inadvertently caused by an unidentifi ed worker who burned a heap of grass and a pile of garbage in the area and left it when it seemed smothered.
But the wind caused it to rekindle and the fi re spread quickly where flammable hoses were stored, engulfing two of the three warehouses in the compound, witnesses said.
Thick black smoke can be seen even from as far as the City of San Fernando and by joggers at the Parade Grounds in the Clark Freeport Zone.
Dennis Uy, president and CEO of Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions, Inc., owner of the burned warehouses said two warehouses (Numbers 2 and 3) containing fiber optic cables, engineering equipment and 13 vehicles were totally razed to the ground.
He said the cables and equipment are slated for the expansion project of his company.
Uy assured that Converge’s daily operations will not be aff ected because warehouse Number 1, which is used to store engineering equipment for daily operations, was spared by the fi re.
Uy confi rmed that the unsupervised cutting of the cogon grass in the area which was later thrown in a ditch and burned was the caused the fire when it was rekindled and spread quickly reaching flammable hose cables stored in the area.
The blaze was raised to the third alarm by the Bureau of Fire Protection at around 5:45 p.m., Lising said, adding that almost all fi retrucks in the province were deployed to fi ght the inferno.
Among the responding fi retrucks were from Porac, Bacolor, City of San Fernando, Mexico, Guagua, Sta. Rita, Magalang, Sto. Tomas, Mabalacat City and Dee Hwa Liong Fire Volunteers.
Lising said the fi re was placed under control at around 6:05 p.m. No casualties or injuries were reported.
Converge is an internet service provider.
