Fire hits commercial establishment in Banawe, Quezon City

Thick black smoke engulfed a commercial establishment along Banawe Street around 1 a.m. on Thursday, according to a "24 Oras" report by James Agustin.

One of the responding firefighters climbed to the second floor and proceeded to break the glass windows. This resulted to a sudden burst of flames.

The firefighter acted quickly and grabbed a fire hose from a colleague in an effort to contain the fire.

"So nag-ventilate ako nung nakita kong palabas na yung apoy agad akong bumaba so vinentilate ko lang po para sumingaw po yung heat na andoon sa loob ng building," said FO2 Melvin Cabaya of the Manresa Fire Sub-Station.

(I ventilated the area when I saw the fire coming out. I immediately went down to release the heat trapped inside the building.)

The firefighters initially had difficulty entering the building due to the padlocked accordion doors.

"Pagdating namin yung pagpasok sa ano sa establishment bale tatlong padlock na malaki siya so kailangan namin kumuha pa ng special tools para mabuksan yung steel accordion niya. Hindi po agad siya nabuksan pero nung nabuksan naman na-confine naman agad yung apoy po," said Fire Inspector Rommel Perez, Engine Commander of La Loma Fire Sub-Station.

(When we arrived and tried to enter the establishment, there were three large padlocks, so we had to get special tools to open its steel accordion gate. It didn’t open right away, but once it did, we were able to confine the fire immediately.)

No one was reported hurt in the incident.

The blaze reached first alarm status and was declared under control after more than an hour.

According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the burned structure housed various auto parts and supplies. Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire, which reportedly started on the first floor.

In a separate incident caught on video on April 25 along Visayas Avenue, a UV Express van burst into flames.

Moments later, the burning van suddenly moved forward.

No other vehicles were affected. Firefighters promptly responded and managed to extinguish the flames.

"Matagal siya doon nagstay na nagliliyab siguro I think few minutes andoon siya four minutes maybe kasi andoon lang kami sa gilid. After that saka lang siya ulit tumakbo mga few meters away doon sa una niyang pinagliyaban tapos saka din nagtakbuhan yung mga tao kasi akala nila sasagi sa kanila or baka pumunta doon sa area nila," recounted witness Arjay Dela Cruz in a phone interview.

(It burned in place for a while, maybe around four minutes, because we were just standing on the side. After that, the van moved a few meters away from where it first caught fire, and that’s when people started running because they thought it might hit them or move in their direction.)

According to the BFP, the driver and all 18 passengers of the van, which was en route to Novaliches, were able to evacuate safely.

Initial investigation revealed that it was the passengers who first noticed a burning smell. The driver pulled over to inspect the vehicle when smoke suddenly began coming out of the air-conditioning unit, eventually it caught fire.

Authorities continue to investigate both incidents. — Sherylin Untalan/BAP, GMA Integrated News