BACOLOD City – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) – Bacolod City has recorded a 52.4 percent drop in fire incidents from January to middle of June this year.
Only 82 fire incidents were listed during the period – lower than the 172 incidents recorded in the same period last year, data from the BFP-Bacolod City on June 20 showed.
Majority of these fires, or 44, involved residential buildings while the rest were non-structural (15), non-residential buildings (14), and vehicular fires (nine).
According to Fire Officer 2 Paul Servano, the decrease is the result of the joint safety intervention initiatives of the BFP-Bacolod City and the city government – the Red Zone Program of Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.
Red zones or fire-prone areas are identified as high risk (more than one fire), moderate risk (at least one fire), and low risk (without history of fire).
Damage to properties, meanwhile, reached P7.832 million, much lower than the previous year’s P51.17 million.
Also, BFP-Bacolod City reported three fatalities in two fire incidents this year involving unattended lighted candles at home.
On May 20, two minor siblings died while their grandfather was injured when a fire engulfed their home in Purok Lison, Barangay 1 in this city.
The charred bodies of a six-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl were discovered after firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Authorities said the siblings were trapped inside their room and unable to escape as the fire had already consumed the only accessible door. Their parents were not at home when the fire broke out.
Four days later on May 24, a one-year-old girl died and her six-year-old sister was injured in another fire in Barangay Mandalagan.
The BFP-Bacolod City reminded the public anew to be cautious and mindful, particularly when using electrical appliances.
It also urged residents not to leave children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable family members alone at home, as well as to report fire hazards and always keep emergency numbers ready. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
