Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Fires leave P.85M damage
By Jimmy P. Abayon
SEPARATE fires left a total damage of P853,000 from January to March 25 this year, said provincial fire marshal Insp. Victor Vibares in his report during the Kapihan sa PIA forum at City Burger Wednesday.
Vibares said his office received 80 fire alarms within the period most of which were caused by bonfires as a result of the heat wave brought about by the El Niņo phenomenon.
He lamented that because of limited budget, only 11 fire stations exist in Negros Oriental, a far contrast from the ideal ratio of one fire station for every municipality or city.
The cities that have their own fire stations are Bayawan, Dumaguete, Bais, Canlaon and Tanjay and the towns are Sta. Catalina, Siaton, Valencia, San Jose, Mabinay and Guihulngan.
The provincial fire chief lamented that the province has a total of only 200 fire fighters.
In Dumaguete City, the total damage caused by the series of fires that hit it from January to March this year has been placed at P117,000.
City fire marshal Insp. Arnulfo Sayson said the station responded to four fire alarms in January, one in February and three in March.
Five were caused by rubbish and sugar cane fires, two were electrical in nature and one was caused by an exploding liquefied petroleum gas.
Sayson rated the city fire station 4 on a level of 1-10 as far as firefighting equipment is concerned.
He disclosed that the last time the station received a new issue fire truck, a 1957 model, was in 1980.
(April 2, 2003 issue)
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