BAGUIO CITY — A five-hour fire destroyed a large portion of the Baguio City Public Market overnight on Saturday.

The fire started at 11 p.m. Saturday and was put out at 4:30 a.m. Sunday with help from firefighters of La Trinidad and Tuba towns as other local firetrucks were also battling a forest fire in Barangay Camp 7, near the Mt. Sto. Tomas area, that lasted from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. of 11 March.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the whole Block 4 of the market was totally burned while half of Block 3 was heavily damaged.

The affected areas include the “ukay-ukay” or “wagwagan,” vegetable, poultry or “pinikpikan,” and eatery sections.

The office of the Baguio Market Cooperative and the “kaldero” section were also partially damaged.

City Fire Marshall Marisol Ordinez estimated the cost damage to be around P24 million.

The fire quickly spread because the market is mostly made of combustible materials, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection-Baguio.

Personnel of the Baguio Water District and some private water deliveries also were present at the scene to provide water supply to the firefighters.