BACOLOD CITY – A fire hit two commercial buildings on Luzuriaga St., Barangay 37, here on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Chief Insp. Rodel Legaspi, city fire marshal, said the blaze broke out around 8:35 a.m. on the second floor of a business establishment in a three-story building.
The fire spread to the third floor and then to the adjacent building, damaging the third floor of another establishment, Legaspi said.
Legaspi said the fire raged for eight hours since there was no ventilation from the burning building. Ventilation enables the expulsion of heat and smoke from a burning building, allowing firefighters to easily combat the fire, he said.
He said that firefighters had difficulty penetrating affected areas because of the thick black smoke.
The fire which reached the second alarm destroyed properties totaling P20.2 million and declared fire out at around 4 p.m.
Firefighters did not leave the scene even after the fire was put out and arson investigators returned to the area on Monday, Feb. 13, to determine the cause of the fire.