BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan -- The almost eight-hour fire that razed a commercial district in this resort island Monday resulted in an estimated PHP10 million damage.
Fire Inspector Sidgie Gerardo, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Boracay officer-in-charge, said Tuesday the amount is expected to increase as they continue their investigation.
The fire took place at Zone 7 D’ Talipapa Market in Barangay Balabag, a one-stop tourism district here with wet market, restaurants and souvenir shops.
The fire started at 4:30 a.m. and was declared out 12:05 p.m., the BFP reported.
It burned down a total of 216 stalls which are managed by Sunshine D’Mall Boracay and rented to different vendors.
Eighteen residential houses were also hit by the fire.
According to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development, the fire displaced a total of 158 families or more than 500 individuals including children as of Tuesday.
Catherine Fulgencio, of the Malay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said one evacuation center in Barangay Balabag has been activated to temporarily house fire victims.
Majority of them, however, opted to stayed with their families.
Fulgencio said relief goods were distributed to the fire victims while affected residents will be given financial assistance.
She said they are still finalizing the records of the victims since there are still some who have not been registered yet. (PNA)
