Lightning strike eyed in fire that forced shutdown of 3 LRT stations

The fire that so damaged LRT2 that it had to shut down three of its stations may have been caused by a lightning strike, an official of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said.

Engr. Federico Canar, the manager of LRT Lines 1 and 2 Engineering Department, said the initial assessment revealed that the fire could have been caused by either a lightning strike or equipment failure.

"Kaya namin tinitignan yung possibility ng lightning kasi, as compared doon sa equipment failure, ang epekto ng equipment failure ay one substation lang," Canar said during the emergency hearing of the House Committee on Transportation.

"Itong nangyari sa Line 2, simultaneously ang Substation 5, 6, and 4 ay affected," he added.

Muntinlupa Representative Ruffy Biazon asked Canar whether the weather conditions at the time of the fire were conducive for lightning.

Canar said it was a "sunny day" at the time, but "lightning is ready to strike anytime of the day."

LRTA Deputy Administrator for Operations and Engineering Paul Chua, for his part, said that a lightning strike was recorded the day before the fire, which caused a shutdown of LRT2 operations for a few minutes.

This lightning strike, however, may have something to do with the fire that broke out the following day.

"Meron siyang relasyon to the day after because that night, na-confirm namin na may lightning talaga and nagka-uka yung copper area na nakadikit sa catenary sa kuryente," he said.

"Nung nangyari yun, we did an initial assessment with the engineering department. That's why we came up with a list already, based on visual. Doon nakita na may 189 items that are possibly damaged," he added.

The LRTA said they could not make a conclusive report on their investigation yet as they do not have open access to the fire scene. This is because the are still under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

"May problema rin kami on my part kasi hindi namin mapasok thoroughly ang area kasi under jurisdiction nila. And this is now creating a problem on our part para ma-identify po yung specific problem," said LRTA corporate board secretary Atty. Hernando Cabrera.

Cavite Representative Jesus Crispin Remulla slammed BFP for the delay in their investigation, saying that it should not have taken them one week to finish their probe.

Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing then spoke with BFP director Leonard Bañago, who told him that they will fast-track their investigation on the fire. Densing is hoping that the results of the probe will come out on Thursday at the earliest.

"Once the report comes up, we will immediate order or issue a clearance so that LRTA can start with their repairs," Densing said. —NB, GMA News