DILG urges public to be vigilant during Fire Prevention Month

MANILA – Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año on Tuesday urged the public to be more vigilant in exercising fire safety protocols to prevent damage to properties and loss of lives. This as the country recorded 94 fire incidents during the first four days of March which is declared as Fire Prevention Month under Proclamation 115-A.

“We are just four days in the Fire Prevention Month but we have close to 100 cases already. We remind our kababayans to be vigilant in this uptick of fire incidents and do their shared responsibility in keeping these unfortunate fires from happening,” he said in a news release.

Año said that based on the latest data of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), these fire incidents caused more than PHP20.4-million worth of damage to properties and killed seven individuals nationwide.

He, however, said this number is smaller compared to the 161 fire incidents tallied in the same period last year.

For March 1 to 4, 68 percent or 64 fire incidents were classified as accidental while two fire cases were intentional; two were natural; and, one was due to negligence while 25 incidents are currently under investigation.

In the National Capital Region (NCR) alone, Año said 12 fire incidents have been recorded by the BFP during the same four-day period, with more than PHP500,000 worth of damage to properties.

Meanwhile, from January 1 to March 4, Año said the BFP tallied 2,181 fire incidents nationwide which is higher than 1,984 cases recorded in the same period last year.

He said 38 individuals have perished from these fire incidents while 158 were injured.

More than PHP640.9 million worth of damage to properties were accounted for by the Bureau of Fire Protection.

The fire incidents were caused mainly by electrical ignitions through arcing which happens when a circuit becomes overloaded and overheats or electrical ignition by a loose connection.

Año said 994 or 46 percent of the total fire incidents nationwide from January 1 were accidental in nature while 470 cases were due to negligence.