Sunday, March 02, 2008 Fires devoured P116M in 2007 By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Garry Cabotaje & Oscar C. Pineda
AT LEAST 141 more fires broke out in Central Visayas last year than in 2006, records at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) show.
The comparative report of the BFP 7, however, indicated that damage to property was much higher in 2006.
That year, P129,583,567 worth of property was gobbled up by fire, while in 2007 the fire department recorded P116,075,260 in damage.
Electrical misuse was the most common cause behind the 643 fires that hit the region last year.
Top officials in the region and in Cebu City hope to reduce fires by stepping up information dissemination.
March is Fire Prevention Month.
BFP 7 officials and personnel in Metro Cebu joined a 4 a.m. “fun run” in Cebu City yesterday, from the Fuente Osmeña oval to the BFP 7 office on N. Bacalso Ave., to start the celebration.
Sirens wailed in the streets as early as 5 a.m. yesterday, marking the opening of the celebration.
BFP 7 Director Eleuterio Iturriaga also led the bureau at an 8 a.m. mass, followed by a short program and, of course, a fire drill.
This year’s celebration carries the theme, “Prevent Fire: Be Informed, Get Involved.”
Home check
Cebu City Fire Marshal Esmael Codilla said his office has been conducting fire safety seminars in different barangays in coordination with the Association of Barangay Councils.
“The barangay officials are effective tools to penetrate the grassroots,” he said.
The seminars will not all be lectures, Codilla said, and participants will get a chance to douse flames with a fire hose.
Aside from informing them about fire safety, the seminars will also help participants, especially the tanods, develop their skills in firefighting.
In Talisay, the activity also kicked off with a mass at the basement of the Talisay Fire Station at City Hall. This was followed by a short program attended by government officials led by Mayor Socrates Fernandez.
In his speech, City Fire Marshal Felipe Canillas urged Talisaynons to be fire-conscious, regularly check their electrical connections and rid their houses of unused flammable materials.
“Please always examine your own homes,” Canillas said.
Negligible
He described as “negligible” the number of fires in Talisay compared to other local government units. The city recorded 10 blazes in 2006 and nine last year.
Not a single fire has happened in January and February this year, he said.
Canillas attributed the low incidence of fires to their prevention drive, which includes home safety inspections, barangay “pulong-pulong” or meetings, surveys and hazard mapping.
He also cited the absence of congested squatter areas as a contributing factor.
In Mandaue, the city’s executive and legislative branches joined hands to address the needs of the fire department.
Mayor Jonas Cortes has promised to buy fire trucks and establish three fire substations. Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna, for his part, said the City Council, which he presides over, will support the move.
“We will not just assign fire trucks from Accert to you; hopefully we could purchase super tankers,” Fortuna said in his speech yesterday.
A 7 a.m. mass attended by City Fire Marshal Chief Insp. Oscar Mayol and his men kicked off the event, followed by a motorcade and a brief program before lunch.
Commitment
Councilor Diosdado Suico delivered the mayor’s speech during the program.
Vice Mayor Fortuna also delivered a short message affirming the council’s support for the BFP’s earlier request to convert its ladder and hose truck into a big tanker.
“We affirm the commitment made by the mayor,” he said, referring to the plan to set up more substations.
Fortuna said they will now look for a place, plan the structure and acquire more trucks.
The mayor earlier revealed his plan to put up a fire substation in Barangays Subangdaku, Basak and Banilad.
Mayol had also asked for three 1,000-gallon tanker trucks and a 2,500-gallon tanker, with a total cost of around P5.4 million, which the mayor has said yes to.
Mayol said these will augment the existing four fire trucks, one of which was acquired in the nearly five decades ago. (JST/GC/OCP)
