THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) recorded 28 fire incidents in Bacolod City from January to July this year, compared to 47 incidents in the same period last year.
Senior Inspector Publio Ploteña, acting city fire marshal chief, said Thursday that most of the causes of fire in residential and business establishments were due to electrical problem, short circuit, unattended candles and flat irons.
Among the most tragic this year was a fire that gutted 10 houses at Barangay 1, killing four children and their grandmother.
In the same period this year, BFP recorded an estimated damaged of P3,162,000 compared to P13,818, 500 damage last year.
Ploteña said he believes that one of the factors that decreased the fire incidents is the fire prevention and information dissemination to different barangays in the city.
He said all the BFP personnel assigned to different fire sub-stations at Lopez-Jaena Street, Barangays Pahanocoy, Granada, and Rodriguez Avenue are required to conduct fire safety awareness within their areas.
Moreover, Ploteña said the officials of Barangay Handumanan also requested to build a fire sub-station in their barangay.
He said it has been observed that several business establishments were constructed in said barangay and it takes half-hour to respond to a fire call in the area.
Ploteña added they are still awaiting the lot donation to construct the fire sub-station in said barangay and for the deployment of fire safety personnel including a fire truck.