FIRE OUT. Firefighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection take a break after battling the fire at the Gaisano Mall in General Santos City for more than 16 hours. Firefighters officially declared “fire out” at the establishment at about 1 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 17, 2019). (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- An estimated PHP2 billion worth of properties and commercial goods were destroyed in the huge fire that gutted the Gaisano Mall here following a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Wednesday night.
Firefighters declared “fire out” at the establishment at about 1 p.m. Thursday, more than 16 hours after it broke out past 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Fire Chief Insp. Reginald Legaste, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) station here, said about 75 percent of the 2.3-hectare mall was razed based on their initial assessment.
Legaste said an investigation is underway as to the origin and possible cause of the fire, which reached the general alarm by midnight Wednesday.
“The next phase of the investigation will be handled by our central office,” he told reporters.
Dr. Agripino Dacera Jr., head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), said city government personnel were assisting the BFP in clearing operations.
Dacera said there were no reported casualties in the incident as mall-goers and employees were earlier evacuated due to the earthquake when the fire started.
Citing accounts of mall personnel, he said the fire reportedly originated at the kitchenware, furniture and plastic ware sections at the ground level. It eventually reached the second level and rapidly spread to the other sections of the establishment.
Dacera said almost all BFP, private volunteer firefighting and rescue units in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) and some from Region 11 (Davao region) responded to the incident.
“Some firefighters came from Davao City. They brought their assets here, which was really a big help,” he said.
The city government expressed gratefulness to the firefighters and other volunteers who continuously battled the fire until it was totally extinguished on Thursday afternoon.
“The local government unit (LGU) of General Santos City, headed by Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera, salutes our firefighters, all government employees, other LGUs and the private sector for all the help extended during the blaze at Gaisano Mall,” it said in a Facebook post.
The BFP and the local government placed the number of mall workers affected by the incident at about 1,500.
On orders from Rivera, personnel from the City Social Welfare and Development Office’s quick response team would set up help desks at their office for the affected mall workers.
The team will assess the “economically displaced Gaisano mall employees and locators’ staff for possible intervention.” (PNA)
