Naga City Market Fire and a Lot of Other Crap

The light suddenly went out yesterday evening. I didn't mind at first but it occurred to me later on that we had to bear with the heat the whole night. I tried to amuse myself by placing Sim City on my mobile phone, but the mosquitoes biting me were twice as horrible as the heat. Curiously, the mosquitoes seemed to favor me because Erbe was not at all complaining.

While playing though I noticed firetrucks sirens wailing. I commented on it, but I didn't give it much thought or notice. I kept hearing sirens though the whole night. I found out only this morning that a fire gutted the second and third floor of our local market.

Anyway, I took this picture a couple of months ago --




Now, these are the pictures I took this afternoon --





There were still smoke coming out of the building when I took the pictures.

Anyway, I thought that the electricity wouldn't be back by tonight. Blame it on our driver. I should have known better. He told me that the New People's Army bombed two electric towers. He nonchalantly informed me that the electricity will be back by January. My mouth was hanging opened and I kept thinking, "OMG. Sir Matthew will sack me! I have no money for Christmas! What about my freaking ebook?!"

Needless to say, I was depressed and I kept wondering how I will be able to work.

Anyway, Erbe and I decided to go downtown and get my cellphone battery charged. We paid for an hour charging, so we passed the time watching married couples and dating couples. It's amazing how different they are. Married couples usually sit apart. You can squeeze in a child in the middle. Dating couples practically have their kidneys stitched together!

After an hour, I discovered that the charger was busted and I wasted an hour! I was forced to buy a charger because I thought -- again -- that I had to wait 'til January for the electricity, so I figured I'd be charging my cellphone downtown repeatedly. Although, at that time, I was scheming to get the generator from my aunt's office.

Anyway, I was a bit pissed off about wasting P200.00 on a charger. I usually charge the cellphone on my computer via USB. So, I had to get my cellphone charged again, which means another hour of waiting. I decided to check my email. I googled the blackout and the fire and I came across this article --

Candle blamed for Naga fire; damages at P10M

MANILA, Philippines - Authorities on Friday said a candle left unattended caused the fire that hit the Naga City Public Market in Camarines Sur before midnight Thursday and continued to rage until until early Friday morning...

Initial investigation showed the fire started at about 11 p.m. Thursday. At the time, vendors had to use candles due to a power failure in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

On the other hand, firefighters and fire volunteers had problems battling the blaze due to lack of water.

The report said that as of 8:40 a.m., the fire was still raging in the second and third floors of the market. However, stall owners at the ground floor were business-as-usual. -- (This explains the smoke at 1 p.m. when I took the pictures!)

Earlier, dzRH radio reported that tenants at the market rushed to save their belongings, placing them in an area near the market and guarding them tightly from looters.

The Naga City Public Market was once considered one of the biggest commercial establishments in Southeast Asia before the advent of super-malls. (I didn't know this! Interesting!) - GMANews.TV

And another one --

LEGAZPI CITY-- The public market in Naga City, considered the biggest in the Bicol region, was razed by an eight-hour fire at around 11 p.m. last night, destroying at least 1,500 stalls on the second and third floors.

City officials said damage is estimated to reach P100 million. No casualty was so far reported. (I thought damages amounted to 10 million???)

Naga City mayor Jess Robredo said that the four-hectare, three-story public market was on fire while the entire city was plunged into total darkness by a province-wide black out.

Firefighters from as far as Tabaco City in Albay helped put out the fire. Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com

And another one --

...The power outage in Camarines Sur started around 9 p.m. after oil leaked and damaged the 100 mega volt ampere transformer of the National Transmission Corporation's (Transco) sub-station in Naga City.

Nilda Somera, Transco-Bicol corporate spokeswoman, had said that it would take time to fix the damage, which meant the blackout may last overnight. ABS-CBN Naga

You can just imagine my reaction. After two hours of worrying, there were no bombs after all. No NPA's and there I was cursing them to hell and back. I was so pissed off at our driver! Apparently, while I was charging my cellphone downtown for two hours, we already had electricity back home!

I went home cursing. I needed a pick-me-up. So, we decided to buy a pint of ice-cream. This pathetic double dutch little cup was all that was left. The storeowner didn't want to sell it to me though for health reasons. She said, the ice-cream melted twice. I didn't mind. I just needed the damn thing like my life depended on it. I was so insistent that the storeowner accused me of being pregnant. Anyway, she caved in and sold the thing to me for P5.00! It was so freaking good and it came so cheap! Well, it was certainly a pick-me-up! ♥


Anyway, if you are still reading this -- thanks! You most likely don't have anything better to do. ☺