BFP still to determine cause of Lopue's fire
BACOLOD CITY -- The Bacolod Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has yet to determine the cause of fire that razed Lopue's Araneta Thursday evening last week.
Fire Officer 3 Cornelius Silva said the clearing operation is still being conducted on the store. The Lopue's Araneta fire was considered the longest to happen in Bacolod City as it started around 11 p.m. and was declared under control past 2 a.m.
Earlier that night, a fire occurred at the second floor of the Land Transportation Office in Cottage Road.
After the fire hit the Lopue's Araneta branch, another one hit the food court area of Lopue's San Sebastian branch around 2 a.m. last Friday with only a minimal damage estimated at P5,000.
The fire at Lopue's Araneta building failed to spread to the neighboring buildings of De La Rama Center and the Philippine National Bank due to the fire walls.
BFP Deputy Fire Marshall, Fire Inspector Publeo Plotena said that firefighters had a hard time putting out the fire because the business establishment was close. Initial BFP investigation conducted by Silva along with Fire Officer 2 Joey Michael Victoriano and Harry Fernandez showed that the fire started at the garments, glass and hardware sections on the third floor of Lopue's Araneta.
Estimated damages according to the Fire Investigators as conferred by the Store Management reached to P20 million.
The Lopue's Araneta branch is one of the oldest department stores in the city having been established in 1955 by the late Benjamin Lopue Sr.
On the other hand, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said that the fires that hit Lopue's stores and LTO building were purely accidental although he awaits official investigation report from the Fire Department. He quoted one of the fire marshall volunteers of Amity who served for almost 30 years in saying that this is the first time ever in the history of Bacolod that three fire incidents occurred in the city in just one day.
Leonardia, who was at the fire scene, lauded the BFP and the volunteers for their immediate action during the incident.