195 fire prone areas in Bacolod identified

The City Government of Bacolod has identified a total of 195 red zones or fire prone areas in various barangays.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he held a meeting with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on Monday, August 5, to establish an effective intervention on fire incidents at the City Mayor's Office, Bacolod City Government Center.

This, was after at least 99 houses were razed by fire in Purok Kagaykay, Barangay 2 on July 31, and Purok Kingfisher, Barangay 16, on August 1, 2024.

Benitez said they will form a task force to monitor and develop plans to mitigate the number of fire incidents in the city, with a particular focus on these red zones.

He said these red zones are hard-to-reach areas with no applied regulations for fire safety.

He added there should be an alarm and communication systems in place in each purok for more efficient coordination with fire responders. 

The mayor noted that the top causes of fire incidents include electrical ignition followed by cooking and overheated home appliances.

To prevent future fires in Bacolod, Benitez said that they need to identify the red zones, or the areas that do not follow safety standards or the informal settlers.

" As of Monday, August 5, we already identified 195 red zones and we are still counting," he said.

He added they are estimating at least 200 red zones in Bacolod that should be prioritized to ensure that the city can implement the safety measures.

The mayor noted that they will coordinate with the landowners, land occupied by informal settlers, to go with the plan of the city to provide some safety measures to avoid similar incidents.

" If we do not address this, we will continue to have fire incidents so we will have to do something," Benitez said.

The mayor was also coordinating with the Liga ng Barangay to prevent fire incidents within their barangays.

Benitez said the city will provide 10 cellular phones to all the BFP's sub-stations for quick response in the fire calls.

The meeting was also attended by Supt Jenny Mae Masip, Councilors Pao Sy and Vladi Gonzales, Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) officer-in-charge Colonel JoerestyCoronica, City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting, Bacolod Housing Authority Head Ma. Victoria Parreño, City Health Officer Ma. Carmela Gensoli, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head Dr. Anna Maria Pornan, City Budget head Imelda Williams, Department of Social Services and Development Head Alma Gustilo, and Business Permit and Licensing Division head Stella Rayos.