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[av_heading heading=’ Fire hits feed mill in Pavia ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY IAN PAUL CORDERO
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ILOILO City – Fire razed a feed mill in Barangay Mali-ao, Pavia, Iloilo yesterday afternoon, gutting its stockroom for nearly four hours.
No one was injured but households at the back of the Pavia Feed Milling Corp. panicked for fear that the fire might breach the mill’s firewall and reach their houses.
The blazed started around 3:45 p.m., according to the mill’s roving security guard Ramy Garete.
A forklift operator of the feed mill, 38-year-old Rey Almirante of Lambunao, Iloilo, said they were about to start their operation when the fire struck.
“We saw black smoke billowing from the roof of the stockroom,” according to Almirante.
They tried to put out the fire but the feed mill’s standby hose was not long enough to reach the stockroom, he said.
It remained unclear as of this writing what caused the blaze.
The municipality’s fire station sent a fire truck. It was augmented by those from the nearby municipality of Santa Barbara and the Iloilo City-based Iloilo Citizens Action Group Volunteer Fire Brigade and Federation Iloilo Fire Brigade.
Fire Officer 2 Kenny John Cuevas of Santa Barbara complained difficulty of breathing due to the thick smoke.
An estimated 30,000 sacks of raw materials for feed processing like corn, soya and chaff went up in smoke, according to Almirante.
Some residents claimed it took some time for fire fighters to arrive at the fire scene.
Pavia’s Mayor Michael Gorriceta told Panay News the town’s Bureau of Fire Protection has two fire trucks but one is under repair.
He said a new fire truck may be bought to improve the fire fighters’ response time.
Around 9 p.m. firemen were still conducting a mop-up.
To mop-up is to make a fire safe or reduce residual smoke after the fire has been controlled by extinguishing or removing burning material along or near the control line./PN
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