Fire topples transmission tower in Muntinlupa

By Jonathan Hicap

A fire broke out at a residential structure in Alabang, Muntinlupa Wednesday (April 19) morning that caused a transmission tower owned by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to collapse.

Muntinlupa City Fire Marshal Supt. Gilbert Dolot told the Manila Bulletin that a fire of still-unknown cause started at 8:48 AM from a 300-square meter residential structure occupied by about 50 families located under the transmission tower.

The fire reached second alarm before it was put out at 9:15 AM.

As a result of the fire, NGCP’s transmission line — located near the Alabang toll exit — fell and leaned towards the Alabang viaduct. This caused heavy traffic, especially in the northbound lanes of the expressway as vehicles coming from Laguna were not allowed to exit the Alabang toll plaza.

Dolot estimates the damage to the residential property at around P30,000 to P50,000, as he adds that there were injuries and casualties in the fire.

NGCP personnel, meanwhile, were immediately deployed in the area to assess the damage.

In a statement, NGCP said: “Due to the extent of the fire, the foundation of Tower 34 of the said line was weakened, causing the tower to lean.”

It was also noted that through its line redundancy system, there were no power interruptions.