By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Victorias Milling Company (VMC) said it will be “business as usual” for them even though one of their warehouses was gutted in last Sunday’s fire.

They will begin accepting sugarcanes from 7 a.m. onwards today as scheduled, VMC president Linley Retirado said yesterday morning.

Retirado assured its planter stakeholders that they will begin milling operations and they will stand by their commitment to  join all sugar industry stakeholders to open the milling season on September 1.

Retirado also relayed the same message to Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, who visited the VMC plant site and inspected the gutted warehouse building on Monday, August 28, in order to assess the situation.

According to Retirado, initial reports showed that the fire consumed the mill’s adjacent support facilities such as the clinic, the instrumentation office and the roof of the warehouse.

He said opening the mill as scheduled can be done since they are currently doing cleanup of the fire site to ease traffic flow when milling begins.

VMC also thanked the immediate response of fire personnel as well as Victorias City’s Mayor Javi Benitez and 3rd District’s Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez for their support, adding that the rapid response of fire personnel and emergency crews immediately contained the fire.

The company also held a mass yesterday morning to usher in the new milling season.

Based on information provided by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire started at the clinic at 6:40 p.m. on Sunday before spreading to the warehouse.

The fire reportedly burned down stocks of raw sugar inside the warehouse.

Fire trucks from Cadiz City and Bacolod City responded to the blaze that was contained at 8:50 p.m.

There were no fire casualties, the BFP added./DGB, WDJ