FIREFIGHTERS in Ormoc City along with those from neighboring towns helped battle a fire that broke out inside the Gaisano Capital Ormoc, located in the middle of the city’s commercial center, at around midnight on Saturday. The fire was contained at the mall, preventing it from spreading to neighboring buildings. Fire Officer 1 Lovernee Rauto, who mans the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) hot line, said they received the fire alarm at exactly 1:00 a.m. Saturday from a staff of the Ormoc Sugarland Suites, a pension house fronting the department store. An estimate on the damage has yet to be released, but the land, owned by the Ormoc City government, was worth P75 million when it was leased out to the Taipan Development Corporation in 1995. This was the second time that the same area was hit by a fire. Locals said the area was where Ormoc’s old public market was situated before it was destroyed by a fire and relocated to its present site. — The Freeman
