(Update 2) 4 firefighters hurt in Quezon City Hall fire

MANILA, Philippines – Four firefighters emerged injured after attempting to douse a blaze that gutted the annex building of the Quezon City Hall on Wednesday, GMA’s Flash Report said. A radio report, meanwhile, identified the victims as fire officers Lester Ong, Alvin Cuña, David Chu, and Manuel Cabigao – three of them are fire volunteers from the Central Fire Department while the last one was from the QC Fire Department. The four men suffered sprains and injuries on their knees, hands, and chest. The Flash Report quoted authorities as saying that the fire was traced at the Accounting Office on the annex building’s third floor. Fire marshals suspected faulty electrical wiring sparked off the fire with the “focal point" on the ceiling. The report noted that the blaze, which began about 9:15 a.m. and was declared fire-out about 10:30 a.m., wrought an estimated P5 million in damages. It was earlier reported that the fire reached the fifth alarm. For his part, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny" Belmonte expressed gratitude to the firefighters who responded to the incident. “We are just taking the opportunity para pasalamatan ang mga fire departments na pumunta dito [to thank the fire departments who went here]," Belmonte said over the radio. Operations at the city hall would resume but transactions at the Hall of Justice would be temporarily suspended, the television report added. - Mark Merueñas and Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV