Owner of fireworks warehouse that exploded in Bulacan in hot water

BOCAUE, Bulacan — The owner of the fireworks warehouse that exploded on Thursday in this town is now in hot water after the Bocaue Police discovered that it was not legally registered and should not be located in a residential area.
Lt. Col. Ronnie Pascua, Bocaue police chief, identified the owner of the warehouse as Nita Ofracio who has a legitimate fireworks store, however, the warehouse was not registered and has no necessary documents for it to stockpile fireworks products.
 Based on RA 7183 or the Firecracker Law, fireworks stores and warehouses are not allowed in residential areas and must follow certain distances to the nearest residential house, Pascua noted.
On the other hand, the Bocaue Fire Station has not yet released a final report about the incident as of yesterday afternoon.
A certain Fire Officer Genovea said in a telephone interview yesterday that their investigators are still determining the cause of the incident.
In the said incident, eighteen people were hurt after sustaining minor burn injuries and no fatality was reported.