LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – More than eight hundred hectares of forests in the different parts of the province were ravaged by fires that transpired in the different towns over the past two months.
Fire Superintendent Jessie S. Annasiw, provincial fire marshal of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Benguet, said that there were already 40 forest fires that were reported in the province since January which is much higher compared to the 18 forest fires that were recorded by the bureau during the same period last year.
He claimed that there are around 731 hectares of forests that were destroyed by the forest fires that persisted for several days in certain parts of the province over the past two months.
However, he revealed that the areas ravaged by the fires is expected to significantly increase in the coming days once the reports on fire incidents from the different municipal fire stations will be consolidated as there are still fires that are ongoing in some parts of the province.
The BFP Benguet official disclosed that ground and aerial fire suppression activities are being done in collaboration with the various firefighters and volunteers on the ground and the Philippine Air Force (PAF) to prevent the fires from inflicting significant damage to the forests that serve as the source of potable water for the various communities inside and outside the province.
According to him, among the causes of the forest fires include unattended burning of flammable materials, indiscriminate disposal of cigarette butts, aggravated by the dry spell as a result of the ongoing El Nino phenomenon.
Annasiw reported that the largest area damaged by forest fires are situated in sitio Bulo, Poblacion, Bokod with over 400 hectares and sitio Bisal, barangay Bobok-Bisal, Bokod with more than 300 hectares.
He urged the public to ensure that the fire that they created when burning dry materials in their backyard should be put off to prevent the same from being out of control that could further inflict bigger damages to private and public properties.
Further, the fire officer stipulated that people must also ensure that children will not be playing with matches to prevent the occurrence of fires that will result in the loss or damage to property or life.
The BFP Benguet had been receiving reports on the presence of numerous forest fires in the different parts of the province that compelled the mobilization of firefighters, volunteers and even residents near the said incidents to suppress the said incidents and abate greater damage that will be inflicted to life and limb.
Benguet hosts a number of forest reservations that serve as part of the headwaters of some river systems providing abundant water supply for domestic, power generation, irrigation, commercial and domestic uses by people living in the lowland communities.
Annasiw expressed hope that firefighters can immediately suppress the fires in the different forests around the province to lessen the damages that may be inflicted to the trees that serve as erosion control mitigators among other purposes. By Dexter A. See
