News Update Fire Hits Huge Brewery in Cabuyao

ABUYAO, Laguna - A fire raged overnight until Friday inside the Asia Brewery plant here, seriously injuring a production operator, police and witnesses said. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) had not released an official report on the incident as of press time Friday afternoon but Police Officer 1 Renaldo Dizon said the fire was reported to the local police station around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Since that time until noon Friday, up to 50 fire trucks had been deployed to the compound and several explosions were heard by nearby residents. PO1 Marvin Mangahis said that, initially, the fire was confined in the building housing the blending area of Tanduay Distillers where pure ethyl alcohol and pure liquors were being stored. Superintendent Dante Novicio, Cabuyao chief of police, said one Troy Ramos, 31, a member of the compounding crew, suffered third-degree burns in 70 percent of his body. Novicio said Ramos was admitted at the St. James Hospital in Sta. Rosa City. Meanwhile, BFP officers at the scene only confirmed that the fire at the brewery owned by business tycoon Lucio Tan had reached the fourth alarm just an hour after the fire broke out. By 5:30 a.m. Friday, Novicio said the fire had been declared under control but smoke continued to rise from inside the compound until noon. Around 10 a.m., volunteer firemen told Manila Bulletin that they were having difficulty putting out the flames because of the alcohol stock that had caught fire. Arson investigators have not determined the cause of the fire nor made any initial assessment of the amount of damage.