BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Nine people were rescued on Monday night from a four-storey fire-hit commercial building on Gonzaga-Lopez Jaena Street, Barangay 25.
The fire started at around 7:24 p.m.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) received a fire call at around 7:25 p.m.
The blaze reached the second alarm requiring at least six fire trucks to the fire scene.
The rescued individuals were 48-year-old Thomas Lim; 38-year-old Angela Lim; 17-year-old Bryan Lim; 15-year-old Charles Lim; and eight-year-old Derreck Matthew Lim.
Also rescued were 35-year-old Jay Moreno; 31-year-old Mark Anthony Moreno; one-year-old Jelane Ann Moreno; and 19-year-old Jinky Chavez.
The Moreno couple and their one-year-old daughter and a house helper were initially trapped at the building’s fourth floor.
Firefighters managed to rescue them using a fire truck ladders.
A “fire out” was declared at around 8:36 p.m., more than an hour after the fire call was received.
According to the BFP’s arson investigators, the fire started at the building’s north portion, second floor storage area.
One person sustained minor injuries.
The fire damage was pegged at P4 million.
The BFP launched an investigation on the cause of the fire./PN
