2 dead, 5 hurt in Bulacan firecracker factory blast
NORZAGARAY, BULACAN—A 50-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy died while five others were injured and at least 13 houses were destroyed after a makeshift firecracker factory in Barangay Partida here exploded on Wednesday, local officials said.
Jerry Sumbillo, head of the Norzagaray Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), identified the fatalities as Geraldine Mayo, a resident of Gardenville in nearby Sta. Maria town, and Ivan Bati-on of Barangay Partida.
Mayo had just started work at the factory and was on her third day when the explosion happened, Sumbillo said.
Unlicensed
Bati-on, meanwhile, was attending the wake of his 10-year-old brother in their home—one of over 20 small wooden houses in a compound in Barangay Partida—when the impact of the blast ripped through the area.
According to Fire Senior Inspector Francis Rosales, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Norzagaray, five others were injured and were taken to Bulacan Medical Center in Malolos City.
The explosion occurred at past 11 a.m., quickly engulfing the shanty and destroying 13 nearby homes, Rosales said.
Fire Officer 1 Christine Jane de Rama told the Inquirer in a phone interview that their records showed that Norzagaray has no licensed firecracker manufacturers.
“Our records only show retailers and dealers who source their products from Baliwag and Sta. Maria,” she said.
Sumbillo said the existence of the makeshift factory in Barangay Partida caught authorities by surprise, as it blended in with the surrounding wooden houses.
“No one suspected it was a factory. It looked like just another house in the compound,” he said.
Norzagaray Mayor Merlyn Germar has since ordered the MDRRMO, the BFP, and the local police to conduct thorough inspections in all villages to uncover unlicensed firecracker manufacturing operations.
The explosion occurred at a time when firecracker and pyrotechnics production in Bulacan traditionally intensifies—beginning in the “ber” months—to prepare for the holiday season, especially for Christmas and New Year sales.
