BALANGA CITY, Bataan–The local government is considering to place the city under a state of calamity as the three-day fire that gutted down the main building of Galeria Victoria mall was not yet declared a fire out.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on Thursday announced that the fire which started on Tuesday morning was already contained but not yet a fire out.
Mayor Francis Garcia said he would ask the Sangguniang Panglunsod to place the city under a state of calamity, “so that the delivery of services to those affected by mall fire will be in a hurry.”
He said the city’s Public Employment Service Office and the Department of Labor and Employment will conduct job fairs to help displaced workers of the mall.
He said the employment agency was conducting survey to determine the number of affected workers.
Garcia added that there was no report yet on the cause of the fire
Fire Chief Inspector Jaime Robles, Balanga BFP head, told Garcia that the fire has almost died down.
“We are now in clearing operation and we will not leave until it is surely cleared. It was very hot and full of smoke inside the burning mall, main building of Galeria Victoria,” he said.
“Even with breathing apparatus, the heat is still coming inside. The fire was already contained but not yet fire out,” Robles said.
He said that heavily-damaged were the second and third floors of the mall.
Rose Ann Palaypay and another woman said they have a store of cellphones on the third floor.
“It was so sudden. There was an alarm, thus we quickly left the building,” they said.
They said that their merchandise were burned.
“We want to know where the fire came from,” Palaypay said.
Thick smoke on Thursday still came out of the annex building of Galeria Victoria or the stockroom where the fire started 9:17 a.m. Tuesday.
Firemen were still battling the fire at the main building where Robinson’s department store and supermarket and other stores are located.
Firefighting units from 11 towns in Bataan augmented by firefighters from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Olongapo City, Lubao, Pampanga are still in the city.
Rows of business establishments around the Galeria Victoria were closed and the streets in the commercial district are still off limit to vehicles and bystanders. (PNA)
