SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) will start on June 28 the formal investigation on the blaze that gutted the Gaisano Grand Mall of Antique.
BFP Antique caretaker Sr. Inspector Victor Loreto, during his appearance before the provincial board on Thursday, said four officers from their national headquarters will investigate the June 17 fire that left an estimated PHP833,137,500 worth of property loss.
“The four investigators had already been given travel orders to come to Antique,” he said.
He added that the mall management, tenants, and employees should understand why they are not yet allowed to enter the burned structure to retrieve their properties because they have to follow a standard operating procedure (SOP).
“We had been receiving several calls if the mall management, tenants, and employees could already enter the structure,” Loreto said.
He explained the debris is being allowed to cool down and they want to make sure that evidence would not be tarnished thus “police personnel together with the BFP are now cordoning the mall premises.”
There are still BFP personnel assigned in the premises to immediately suppress fire if ever it would rekindle although the fire out was already declared last June 19 noontime, Loreto said.
Meanwhile, they now have witnesses who had given their affidavits about the blaze, the fire official said.
“The witnesses will be called again when the investigators from the national headquarters start the formal investigation,” he said.
He said the trained mall fire brigade, composed of the mall employees, was a big help in ensuring no one was killed or injured among the customers and employees.
Twice a year they had been conducting firefighting drills for the mall fire brigade and inspection
Source: Philippines News Agency
