DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Bureau of Fire Protection tallied 362 fire incidents in Davao region as of October 31, this year, with Davao City recording the highest number of casualties.
In a press conference on Wednesday, BFP-11 spokesman Inspector Patricio Brananola said most of the fire incidents are from residential areas.
The BFP recorded 128 fire incidents on the first quarter with a total damage of P63,221,600 while there are 107 fire incidents recorded on the second quarter with a total damage of P65,476,356.
During the third quarter, they recorded 99 fire incidents in the region with a total damage of P46,331,850 while on the fourth quarter, the BFP still listed 28 fire incidents with a total damage of P20,710,500 as of October 31 report.
In terms of casualties, Brananola said Davao City’s nine casualties were followed by Compostela Valley with two casualties then Davao del Norte with one casualty and Davao Oriental also with one casualty, and a zero casualties for Davao del Sur.
“The Davao City got the highest casualties maybe because of the population here,” he said.
Brananola said that most of the recorded fire incidents are caused by electrical problem.
“Based from our statistics, the electrical related fire incidents always tops the list,” he said.
Aside form electrical related fire incidents, Brananola said there are also fire incidents caused by “open flame” which mostly are unattended lighting candles and unattended cooking in open flames.
Meanwhile, as the month of December starts, Brananola advised the public to take extra careful on using Christmas lights and any other decorations that can cause fire incidents.
“We remind everybody to avoid over-plugging of Christmas decorations in the same outlet especially if all the decorations will be connected with each other,” he said.
In December 2015, the BFP recorded a total of 428 fire incidents. (davaotoday.com)
