FIRE incidents in Davao City from January to February rose by 41.4 percent to 99 cases from 70 incidents in 2018.
The Bureau of Fire Protection in Davao region (BFP 11) reported that most fire incidents happened in residential areas with 43 cases, followed by grass fire (21), rubbish fire (8), and fire involving motor or vehicles (6).
The remaining 21 cases happened in storage facilities, schools, and business, among others. Total damage was estimated at P15.8 million.
Fire Inspector Cyrus Medina, chief of BFP-11 public affairs, said during the AFP-PNP press briefing at the Royal Mandaya Hotel Wednesday, February 27, that the increase in fire incidents in Davao City is not an isolated case.
He also said the increase is not alarming as these incidents happened during this period. He also pointed climate change as the culprit of these incidents.
“’Yong sinasabi ko because of the climate, that’s why then President Marcos declared Presidential Proclamation No. 66 to declare March as Fire Prevention Month because in this month really, nagkakaroon ng rise ng fire incident cases,” he said.
He reminded the public to be conscious of the need for fire safety to prevent such disaster.
“Right now we are experiencing the dry season, nandoon na yong most important element ng fire which is heat. Ang kulang nalang is ignition. If may human intervention or human factor nagkaroon nga aksidente don lumaganap ang sunog that’s why it is happening na marami talagang incident ng sunog in Davao City,” Medina added.
Among the safety tips that he mentioned is after using a certain appliance, it must be unplugged.
“We have to go to the basics kasi yong sunog talaga medyo deadly ngayon. In fact, it claimed a life of a person with disability in Agdao. Wala pa nga tayo sa March so that’s why this is really high time for us to remind the public before the coming of the month of March, dapat fire safety conscious na yong community natin in the entire region,” he said.