The Baguio City Fire Station (BCFS) reported a sixteen percent decline in the number of fire incidents that transpired in the city for the first months of this year compared to the same period last year.
Senior Fire Officer (SFO) 1 Lloyd Ashley Furigay, BCSF public information officer, said that there were some 21 fire incidents that were recorded from January to February this year compared to the 25 fires reported in the city during the same period last year which is a 16 percent decline in fire incidents.
He claimed that this year’s fire incidents were composed of 8 grass fires, 6 residential fires, 4 forest fires, 2 non-residential fires and 1 vehicular fire that were spread out during the said period.
The BCSF official noted that at the start of the celebration of fire prevention month, there was only one grass fire incident that was reported with the hope that there will be no more fire incidents that will transpire in the city to prevent further damages that will be inflicted to life and limb.
According to him, grass fires are those that transpire in the backyard of residents where grasses and bushes are burned because of open flame among other causes while forest fires are those that happen in the various forest and watershed reservations that affect trees in the said areas.
He advised residents to make sure that the open flames that they ignited will be put out before leaving the place to avoid the said fire from escalating and pose a serious threat to their surroundings.
Further, he called on parents not to allow their children to play with matches considering the danger that it poses to life and limb inside and outside their residences.
Among the identified causes of fire incidents in the city include unattended open flames, unattended cooking, children playing with matches, cigarette butts that are indiscriminately being thrown away and burning of dried materials. By Dexter A. See
