Fire of unknown origin razed three business establishments in downtown Dumaguete, destroying three rows of apartments but spared three other stores at the corner of Silliman Avenue and Mariano Perdices Street, Dumaguete City, at 3:37 a.m. yesterday.

Initial fire investigations showed that Rosante, Body and Soul and Marjorie's Boutique were gutted to the ground and estimated damage to property placed at P2.5 million.

Gobbled up by the fire were the Marciano Kho building which houses the Marjories Boutique and Rosante bar and restaurant, Soledad Flores building which houses Body and Soul, a spa and massage parlor; and several student lodgers/boarders, namely Santiago Patulin, Allan Tan Pastor, Frederick Solis and the Garrovillo Building which is undergoing renovation and Staple Square school supply store which incurred water damage.

City fire marshal C/Insp. Ranulfo Sayson has confirmed that the fire's point of origin is the ceiling of Marjorie's Boutique that quickly engulfed the area and spread to nearby Rosante.

Fire fighters had to forcibly open Marjorie's Boutique and Rosante to put out the blaze.

No casualty was reported, however.

Fire trucks from Dumaguete, the Volunteers Chinese Fire trucks, Silliman University Fire Trucks, Solon and Matiao water tanks, Bureau of Fire Protection from Tanjay City, San Jose, Sibulan, Valencia, Siaton and Chinese volunteer brigades helped put out the blaze and placed it under control at 4:45 am.

Fire Marshall C/Insp. Ranulfo Sayson said initial investigation revealed that the point of origin of the fire started in the 2nd floor of Marjorie's Boutique then spread to Rosante restaurant and immediately spread to the back of the store and destroyed several boarding houses made of light materials, including the three-door apartment behind the establishment.

He added that the three-door apartment including the Body and Soul massage parlor were razed to the ground. The building housing the Cebuana-Lhuillier Pawnshop, StapleSquare enterprises, and City Food Station were spared from the fire but suffered water damage.

Sayson said the fire was contained at 4:45 a.m. but he appealed to the public to be very careful of such conflagration. He added that it is also their social responsibility to help one another prevent another conflagration.

City Mayor Agustin Perdices and city administrator Dominador Dumalag Jr., were at the fire scene. Perdices said this should serve as reminder to other commercial establishments to initiate preventive maintenance of their buildings.

First to see the fire were youngsters who were in the vicinity playing with their skateboards and reported the matter to the police.

Arson investigator Fire Officer 3 Rico Bandeling does not discount the possibility of a defective electrical wiring connection as the cause of the fire. Damage was placed at P2.5 million, including the buildings itself.*RG

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