The raging fire woke residents of Upper Atok Trail around five in the morning.

The fire originated from a furniture shop.

One of the first to notice it was Tatay Edwin. Only a firewall separated their house from the burning shop.

In his panic, he rushed upstairs, cutting his arm on a piece of metal in the process.

“I heard there was a fire, so I went outside, and there it was, just like that. I still feel the shock. This is what a fire’s really like,” Edwin Adawi, a resident, narrated.

During the fire, he also heard explosions, possibly from light bulbs and gas tanks.

“It was loud, like dynamite. ‘Boom,’ it went,” Adawi added.

The fire quickly consumed the carpentry area of the shop, as it was made of light materials. The delivery vehicles used by the shop were also damaged in the blaze.

The neighboring rental house was also affected.

“There was wood there used for making furniture, so the fire spread quickly. But we managed to contain it so it wouldn’t reach other houses,” said SFO1 Lloyd Ashley Furigay, Public Information Officer at BFP Baguio.

Tatay Joshue, the owner of the furniture shop, was heartbroken seeing the state of his establishment. He spent ten years building it.

“This was our source of income. Now, we have nothing. We’re at zero. We have nothing to start with,” said Joshua Benito, Owner of the Burned Furniture Shop.

Around seven in the morning, the BFP declared a fire out, with the blaze reaching the first alarm.

The City Social Welfare and Development immediately provided assistance to those affected, while investigations into the cause continue.

This is the 85th case of fire in Baguio City from January to November of this year.

By: Jose Robert Inventor