Philippine city mulls ban on trucks using refilled butane after vehicle fire

  CEBU CITY - A city in the Philippines in considering a ban on vehicles than run on butane gas after a truck using the alternative fuel burst into flames following a collision with a school service vehicle carrying three children in Cebu. Talisay City Vice Mayor Alan Bucao said he has ordered a review on whether the city had an existing law on the transport of refilled butane canisters, and that he will write one banning vehicles using refilled butane canisters and present the proposal to the city council on Tuesday. He said that trucks using new butane canisters will be exempted. Butane is a flammable gas present in petroleum and natural gas. It is used in bottled form as fuel. In Thursday's incident,  a Kia Bongo truck burst into flames after the vehicle collided with a school service vehicle in Barangay San Isidro, Talisay City, in southern Cebu. The school service driver was hurt and rushed to the hospital while the school children were unhurt. Both vehicles and two motorcycles were destroyed in the blaze, while five other vehicles were damaged. The truck driver, Edmar Luad, 21, and a resident of Naga City, was able to jump off the truck before the canisters exploded. He was arrested and is now facing charges. Luad was supposed to deliver the butane canisters to the nearby Minglanilla town. Tallish City Fire Marshal Randy Mendaros said they received the fire alarm at 6:22 a.m. and immediately dispatched firefighters to the area. The fire was placed under control eight minutes later and was extinguished at 6:50 a.m. According to fire investigator PO3 Aquiles Cabando of Talisay City Traffic Division, the truck with plate number ANA-3278 was transporting the butane canisters to Minglanilla when it hit the school service of Asian College of Technology. Ricky Geraldez, the school service driver, said he was just slowly moving upon seeing the traffic light turn green. But the truck driver admitted to police that he went on his way seeing that the traffic light turned yellow. The collision caused the truck to overturn and nearly hit a car display center. However, a spark in the vehicle's motor caused the butane canisters to explode. The school service driver was hurt in the collision and was brought to the hospital. All the three children who were on board the service were unharmed. But the fire at the car display center destroyed the truck, another vehicle and two other motorcycles. Four vehicles inside the display center were damaged. The damages were estimated at P385,000. Campaign against illegal refilling of butane canisters Meanwhile, the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) was in Cebu last month to campaign against the illegal refilling of butane canisters with LPG. Bencyrus Ellorin, the safety campaigner of NCFC, said they have written to Department of Energy - 7 Director Antonio Labios and Liloan Mayor Christine Frasco about the illegal large-scale butane canister refilling in Liloan. "The National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) would like to bring to your attention the unabated, conspicuous and illegal refilling of butane canisters with liquefied petroleum gas in Jubay, Liloan, Cebu City. We understand that this extremely dangerous business operation has been a subject of a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) from the Dept. of Energy and a closure order from the local government unit of Liloan. It is however surprising that the illegal trade’s operation has been unhampered, in fact, had expanded," Ellorin wrote in a letter sent to Labios and Frasco. Ellorin added that they received a response from Labios indicating that they have requested assistance from the NBI and the DOE is scheduling a tactical conference with the mayor of Liloan on the matter. "In light of the accident, the NCFC reiterates that the illegal refilling of butane canisters with LPG should be stopped immediately. Obviously, since there is still supply of refilled butane canisters as the Talisay incident indicate, the illegal activity has not been stopped. It is tragic that public safety maybe caught in bureaucratic red tape," he said.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