THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Davao City recorded a total of 158 fire incidents from January to May in 2014.
Senior Fire Officer 3 Ramil Gillado, investigator of the Davao City Bureau of Fire Protection-Investigations and Intelligence Section, said this year's number is higher than in 2013 with 101 fire incidents from January to May.
As to the cost of damage to properties, this year's damages reached to a total of P89,237,300 compared to last year's P27,765,635, Gillado said.
He added that the common cause of fire is electrical short circuit. The latest fire incident took place around 11:50 a.m. Thursday at Rara Compound, San Pedro, Marapangi 3 in Toril, in Davao City. The damages were estimated at P100,000, Senior Fire Officer 1 Maximo Campaña of BFP-Toril said.
Initial investigation of the Toril Fire Station showed that the fire started from the house owned by Gil Meru, 65, a tricycle driver. The house, which was made of light materials, was totally burned due to electrical short circuit.