THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Davao recorded at least eight fatalities and a total of 482 fire incidents in 2019, incurring P75 million damage to properties.
Senior Fire Officer 2 Ramil Gillado, Investigation Section chief of BFP Davao, said of these 482 incidents, 286 were structural fires while 196 were non-structural fires. Some 20 individuals were also wounded.
The top three fire incidents were mostly residential, followed by grass fire, and those incidents involving vehicles.
In 2018 data, the number of blaze is lower compared to 2019 with a 17 or 3.6 percent difference or a total of 465 involving 354 structural fires and 111 non-structural fires. Compared to the damage in 2019, 2018 incurred larger loss amounting to P137,849,920 with four fatalities and 37 injured. Topping the 2018 list of fire incidents were residential, motor/vehicle, and grass fire.
Gillado added that during the yearend revelry, they have not reported any firecracker-related fire incident in Davao City.
However, firefighters responded to a dawn fire on January 1, 2020.
Based on the spot report from the investigator of S.I.R. Fire Station, two houses and a motor shop were engulfed by a fire in Purok 34 Diversion Road in Barangay Maa, Davao City.
The two houses owned by Antonio Gadian and Rolly Malinog were totally damaged while the motor shop owned by Carlito Asto was partially damaged.
There was no casualty reported during the incident. The report added that the incident originated in Malinog's dirty kitchen. The estimated damage to the incident is around P300,000.
Meanwhile, authorities remind the public to be fire safety conscious and observe fire safety hazards to prevent any loss.