THE month of March marks various celebrations and observances such as Women's Month celebration and the observance of the Fire Prevention Month. The annual nationwide celebration of Fire Prevention, spearheaded by the Bureau of Fire Protection or BFP through activities, seminars and awareness campaigns administered in local government units, firefighting agencies, schools, and other institutions, is highly needed to remind us of how we can avoid such tragic fire incidents from happening again.
The BFP is mandated to prevent and suppress all kinds of destructive fires, investigate its causes, enforce fire-related laws and provide emergency medical and rescue services, shall anchor all the activities for the Fire Prevention Month towards fire safety at home by introducing innovative programs and activities leading towards motivating the public to take fire safety as everyone's concern.
It was in the year 1967 when the observance of the Fire Prevention Month began during the term of former president Ferdinand Marcos through Presidential Proclamation No. 115-A issued on November 17, 1966. The month of March was chosen for this observance since it marks the start of the hot season when most fires occur.
With this year's theme "Sa pag-iwas sa Sunog Di Ka Nag-iisa," BFP kicked off the Fire Prevention Month last March 1. This year's theme aims to give the public massive information and awareness to battle against fire and how everyone in the community can work together to prevent fire tragedies from happening.
Here are following fire prevention measures we can practice to ensure fire prevention in our own homes: proper installation and maintenance of electrical connections, avoiding the use of metal items like staples or nails to fasten electric cords, proper maintenance of electric cords, proper use, storage, and maintenance of all electrical appliances, unplugging of electrical appliances after use, proper connection and maintenance of gas stoves and LPG tanks, keeping flammable liquids, matches, and lighters out of children's reach, avoiding smoking indoors and making sure that cigarette butts are fully extinguished when discarding them, making sure that lighted candles and mosquito coils are never left unattended, obeying of "no smoking" signs, installation and maintenance of fire detection and prevention devices, securing an appropriate and effective fire extinguisher for your home, which should be DTI- certified, proper storage of flammable items, keeping flammable objects away from stoves and other heating devices, and observing vigilance when cooking.
In any case of fire emergencies, BFP lists down what to do:
* Small fires may be extinguished by covering the flame with a non-flammable item like a pot cover or a dampened towel or blanket. Water should be used only for non-electrical fires.
* If the fire gets out of hand, the nearest fire department should be called.
* Escape quickly. Your household should agree on an escape plan and each room should have at least two easily accessible escape routes.
* Avoid suffocation in a smoke-filled room by crawling as close to the ground as possible on hands and knees to the nearest exit.
* If your clothes catch on fire, stop, drop and roll to extinguish the flames.
As the saying goes, prevention is (still) better than cure. Let us all be vigilant regarding fire prevention to save property and to save lives.