ILOILO – Fire struck the public market of Leon, Iloilo late Saturday afternoon, gutting an estimated P10-million worth of merchandizes and properties.
The fire started at around 4:45 p.m. from a stall at the back of the market, initial investigation of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) showed.
The blaze quickly spread to other stalls which were mostly made of light materials.
The BFP said some 100 stalls were razed.
No one died or got injured in the fire but most market vendors lamented not having saved their merchandizes.
With the help of firefighters from neighboring towns, the fire was put out in an hour.
The exact cause of the fire was yet to be determined as this as being written but the BFP was not discounting short circuit as a possible cause.
Stall owner Julia Calugdan wept. She had been selling fruits at the market for two decades.
“Nagsakit ang dughan ko sang ginalamon sang kalayo ang akon baligya,” she said.
Calugdan lost all her fruits to the fire.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. personally checked the market. He vowed to help rebuild it.
Leon is a second-class municipality. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 49,875 people.
It is known as the “Vegetable Basket of Iloilo Province” due to its production of asparagus, cabbages, baguio beans, sayote, eggplants, carrots and other vegetables./PN
