ILOILO City – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is girding for a door-to-door inspection of houses and boardinghouses here.
This campaign is in line with “Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan” which aims to ensure that all houses and boardinghouses meet fire safety standards, said Fire Chief Inspector Christopher Regencia, city fire marshal.
The city government’s Iloilo City Boarding House Commission disclosed that over a hundred boardinghouses, apartments and dormitories failed to comply with pertinent requirements, of which was the Fire Safety Inspection Permit.
The BFP issues a Fire Safety Inspection Permit only to boardinghouses, apartments and dormitories that pass its inspection.
There are an estimated 2,500 boardinghouses, apartments and dormitories in this southern city.
“We need to conduct inspections. We remind households and boardinghouses to check their electrical wires and avoid illegal connections which are the main causes of house fires,” said Regencia.
BFP recently identified 13 fire-prone villages in Iloilo City:
* Calaparan in Arevalo district
* Baluarte, San Juan, Calumpang, West Habog-Habog, and North Habog-Habog in Molo
* Sinikway in Lapuz
* Rizal Lapuz Sur in La Paz
* General Hughes, Veterans, Concepcion, Tanza Esperanza, and Rizal Pala-Pala 2 in the City Proper
These villages are mostly thickly populated and with pockets of illegal settlements having illegal electricity connections.
To date, BFP has recorded 274 fire cases in Iloilo City since January this year – higher than the 223 cases recorded last year from January to June.
“We urge the populace to check their electrical wires. Also, do not leave fire unattended, especially lighted candles,” said Regencia.
Just this June 11 a four-year-old boy trapped in a house fire in Barangay Rizal, Lapuz died.
Daniel John Peralta who tried to save his pet dog but failed to get out of the house his family was renting.
The blaze began from the rented house at around 8:50 p.m.
Firefighters recovered the remains of Peralta and his dog in the comfort room of the house after putting the fire under control.
According to Regencia, “It might be that the Peraltas were not able to put out a lighted candle they used because they had no electricity.”
All the members of the Peralta family – Daniel John, his parents and four other siblings – managed to get out of the house when the fire started but the boy went back to supposedly save his dog.
His father Benedict and firemen tried to save Daniel John but the fire grew big quickly./PN
