SPILLED CHEMICAL. The Bureau of Fire Protection is eyeing spilled chemical as the cause of the huge fire that erupted at the Gaisano Mall in General Santos City following a string of earthquakes last Oct. 16, 2019. Photo shows firefighters finding a way to enter the establishment at the height of the fire. (Photo lifted from the Facebook page of Mayor Ronnel Rivera)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The huge fire at a shopping mall here could have been triggered by combustible chemical that leaked and spilled in its hardware section as a result of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake last Oct. 16.
Fire Chief Insp. Reginald Legaste, former chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) station here, said Wednesday such findings are based on the results of the three-day probe at the Gaisano Mall by a team of investigators from their central office.
He said the team found traces of combustible chemical, which have yet to be identified, at the second level of the establishment.
The spilled chemical might have reached the ground level of the mall, where the fire was first reported to have started several minutes after the 7:37 p.m. earthquake last Oct 16.
“They (investigators) already brought the recovered samples to Manila for further examination,” he said during the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting here.
Legaste, who is now assigned at the BFP-12 regional office, earlier said their initial findings pointed to possible faulty electrical connections and gas leak generated by the earthquake as the cause of the fire.
Citing accounts from mall employees, the fire reportedly started near the kitchenware section and a food establishment at the ground level.
Legaste said they immediately responded to the scene after receiving a fire call from Gaisano Mall at 8:34 p.m.
Legaste said the estimated damage from the fire remained at PHP2 billion but he said the figure could change once the establishment issues its final assessment.
The fire, which reached the general alarm and took over 24 hours before it was totally put out, gutted about 90 percent of the mall and displaced a total of 1,355 workers. (PNA)
