Fire burns down restaurant, destroys P250K in property

Two firefighters argue over a one’s act of wearing official uniform when he was ‘only a volunteer’

A RESTAURANT in Samson Road, Barangay Lahug burned down at dawn yesterday, destroying P250,000 worth of property.

Hit by the fire was the Ocean Garden Seafood restaurant owned by Frank Dinsay.

The alarm was received by the Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) 7 at 1:45 a.m. The fire was placed at third alarm and was put under control after 25 minutes.

Dinsay said he saw smoke coming out of the chimney of the building at 1 a.m., prompting him to check inside.

He said he also heard some noise from inside his restaurant. He initially thought there was somebody inside the restaurant.

But when he heard explosions and glass shattering, he found out his restaurant was on fire. He immediately called the Bureau of Fire Protection 7.

Dinsay said he is wondering what caused the fire since he checked everything before he closed the restaurant for the night.

City Fire Marshall William Tacaldo said the restaurant was made of light materials, causing the flames to spread quickly.

Tacaldo said they did not have difficulty putting out the fire. They didn’t have difficulty getting to the fire scene since the area is just beside the road.

Investigators are still looking into the incident. There are no witnesses, and what they have are just the statements of Dinsay.

No one was reported injured.

Meanwhile, as others were busy putting out the fire, SFO3 Clito Pulido, station commander of the Lahug Fire Substation, and Roy Unabia, a fire volunteer in Lahug, were seen arguing.

The argument started when Pulido got angry that Unabia wore a BFP 7 uniform as he was just a fire volunteer.

Unabia alleged that he was approached by Pulido, who punched him for wearing the uniform.

Their fellow firefighters stopped the two from fighting.