NEWSFLASH

P1-B LOST AS FIRE HITS GENERAL SANTOS CITY COMMERCIAL DISTRICT

General Santos City, March 21, 2002 (BULLETIN) By Bong Reblando - An inferno of unprecedented magnitude struck shortly after midnight the city’s commercial district here, turning some one billion pesos worth of properties into ashes and piles of debris.

The fire, which broke out after midnight, dislocated some 2,000 employes of the gutted Kimball Plaza, one of Mindanao's biggest malls, prompting its owner, retail magnate Doming Teng to seek help from President Arroyo for his employes.

Sr. Fire Officer 3 Romeo Pantoja said arson probers were eyeing faulty electrical wiring at the overpass portion linking the two buildings of Kimball Plaza on Papaya St. as the probable cause of fire which spread quickly to nearby commercial establishments.

Fire probers and city engineering personnel said Kimball Plaza had suffered wall cracks in the March 6 earthquake which, they suspect, may have also affected the electrical installations.

Firetrucks came from Dole Philippines, Inc., the Filipino-Chinese Fire Brigade, and fire stations inPolomolok, Koronadal City, Norala, Tupi, and Banga in South Cotabato, Alabel in Sarangani, and Isulan and Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, but they could not contain the flames.

The second building of the mall, housing Chow King and the ongoing renovation of Jollibee, Pantoja said, was also engulfed by the three-hour fire, as well as, its adjacent commercial establishments, including Majestic Shopping Center, Lim Bros. Hardware, City Glassware, and an Internet café.

No one, however, was injured the fire, the worst to hit te city and it came at a time when the Bureau of Fire Protection was leading the observance of Fire Prevention Month.

The city disaster coordinating council had earlier asked Kimball Plaza to make the necessary inspections of its buildings ad to make corrections. But due to the big cost of rehabilitation estimated at some P20-million, the mall owner was not able to undertake the rehabilitation early enough.