A fire broke out at a cooking oil factory early Friday morning along Dimalanta Road, Barangay Sicsican destroying around P500,000-worth of properties, said the city fire bureau.
FO3 Mark Llacuna, spokesperson of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Puerto Princesa City, said the fire destroyed properties inside the Golden Cooking Enterprise owned by a certain Wilfredo Ong at around 2:50 a.m.
The company reportedly makes plant oil derived from the kernels, meat, and milk of coconut palms and fruits used as a food oil.
Llacuna said the fire was declared “under control” around 4 a.m. and “fire out” around 6:05 a.m. with the help of fire trucks and water tankers from the BFP, Puerto Princesa City Water District (PPCWD), Philippine Air Force (PAF), and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRMMO).
He said they are still investigating if processing the oil product was the reason for the fire.
“Nasunog ang isang oil factory of pagawaan ng mantika. Pino-process kasi ang mantika, at ang pag-process ay tatlong stage. Una, pinipiga gamit ang machine, kapag na-extract na nila ang oil, pinapakuluan yon. Mayroon silang boiler doon na ginagatungan ng kahoy, tapos ang finish product kapag niluluto nila, ginagatungan naman ng uling. Ibig sabihin, expose siya sa open plain,” sabi ni Llacuna.
