BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – Avoid being trapped in house fires. Make it a habit to hold exit drills at home.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Region 6, home fires occur usually due to negligence.
“Mostly mabatian ta may napatay sa sunog. Ang gasulod pirme sa paminsaron sang publiko ano ginhimu sang bombero ngaa napatay? Ginatinguhaan man namon galing indi pwede nga pagtuhaw sang kalayo ara kami dayon,” said Fire Chief Superintendent Jerry Candido, BFP-6 director.
Home fire casualties are usually those trapped inside.
“Ano ang bulong sina? Exit drills at home (teaches family members what to do and where to go),” said Candido.
BFP-6 is marking March as Fire Prevention Month.
Candido said the public must be fire conscious. Aside from exit drills, he shared other fire safety tips.
Unplug electrical appliances and devices when not in use, he said, and switch off the main valve of the liquefied petroleum gas tank after using.
Candido also encouraged the public to install smoke/heat detectors and fire alarms.
It is not fire that kills but the smoke, he said.
Thick smoke emits carbon monoxide that makes one fall asleep, making it hard to escape fire, he explained.
“This year’s Fire Prevention Month, we modify our approach. I think it is now time for the BFP to ask the public ano na nahimu ninyo? What fire safety tips we have told you nga gintuman ninyo?” Candido said.
“Sa Pag-iwas sa Sunog, Hindi Ka Nag-iisa” is this year’s Fire Prevention Month theme.
In January, Iloilo City recorded one of its biggest fire incidents in years. Over 1,000 residents and nearly 300 houses were gutted in the adjacent barangays of West Habog-Habog and San Juan in Molo district early morning of Jan. 28.
BFP said the damage reached P4.748 million.
In 2022, the number of fire incidents in Western Visayas reached 1,677 – 27.24 percent higher than the 1,318 incidents recorded in 2021.
Data from BFP-6 show that as of Dec. 28, 2022, Iloilo province logged the highest at 666 fire incidents.
It was followed by Negros Occidental (532), Capiz (177), Antique (136), Aklan (135), and Guimaras (31).
There were 1,069 structural fires, 456 non-structural fires, and 152 vehicular fires.
Structural fires mainly occur in residential, commercial or industrial buildings.
Total property damage, meanwhile, was pegged at P231,828,749.55.
According to BFP-6, last year’s fires in the region were mainly electrical in nature. These were due to faulty electrical outlets, overloaded outlets, or worn-out sockets.
Other fire triggers were unattended cooking, stoves, embers or lighted candles./PN
