P500,000 worth of Bohol firecrackers up in smoke
Eleven firecracker stalls and pyrotechnics worth P500,000 were destroyed by fire at the public market in Tubigon town in Bohol province Sunday afternoon.
A radio dzMM report said the blaze started from a stall owned by a certain Reynante Sadura. The incident took place between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The report said a customer with a cigarette accidentally lit Sadura's firecrackers.
Authorities estimated property damage at P500,000. No one was hurt in the incident.
The fire in Bohol took place hours before a similar incident, which was also caused by a lighted cigarette, happened in Rosario, Cavite.
Fire from a firecracker stand partially gutted the public market of Rosario town in Cavite province before dawn on Monday, New Year's Eve.
Firefighters said at least 20 stalls were gutted during the blaze that started from a firecracker store inside the Rosario Public Market around 12:30 a.m.
Mayor Nonong Ricafrente immediately implemented a ban on firecrackers after the incident. He has also ordered authorities to confiscate all firecrackers being sold in town.
"Umpisa mamaya ay kukumpiskahin natin ang mga makikita nating paputok. Puwede naman tayong mag-celebrate ng walang paputok eh (We confiscate all firecrackers starting in the morning. We can celebrate [New Year] without firecrackers)," Ricafrente said.
Arson investigators, meanwhile, have yet to determine how the fire started and the amount of property damage.
A child identified as Jaidilyn Sagpao told investigators that he saw a man named Albert Espinosa throw a lighted cigarette into one of the firecracker stalls.
Espinosa, however, said Sagpao should be the one to blame for the blaze because the child allegedly lighted a "piccolo" and threw it into the stalls.
DOH warns vs 'piccolo'
The fire took place in Rosario as the health department warned the public Sunday against the danger of using "piccolo" on New Year’s Eve.
"We are calling on parents to keep piccolo out of the reach of their young children," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
"We believe that many children have them and are just waiting for the big bang tonight (Monday, New Year's Eve)," he added
Duque asked the police to strictly enforce the ban against piccolo and other illegal firecrackers to prevent injuries and loss of lives.
Duque said piccolo has caused more injuries, especially among children, than any other firecracker or pyrotechnic device this year.
Data from the National Epidemiology Center showed that piccolo has been consistently the number one cause of all firecracker injuries, he added.
Duque said of the 134 firecracker-related injuries recorded from December 21-29, some of 30 cases or 22 percent of the total were due to piccolo.
"A big 28 percent of the injuries affected the eye and 30 percent were children 10 years and below," he said.
Duque said piccolo is easily accessible to children because it is not expensive.
A box containing 60 pieces of the small firecracker that is lighted like a match stick costs only P10, he added.
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