THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has recorded 5,764 fire incidents throughout the country this year, an increase of more than a thousand cases compared to the same period last year.
In a phone interview, BFP spokesperson Supt. Annalee Atienza said they expect the figure to further increase due to the increasing temperature.
Data from the BFP showed the leading causes of the fires were open flames from rubbish fires/bonfires to structural fires, smoking or lit cigarettes, and open flames from farmlands.
The 5,764 fire incidents recorded from January 1 to April 2 are higher compared to the 4,477 incidents recorded during the same period last year.
The BFP said civilian fatalities from these fires rose to 120 this year from 79 last year.
Injured civilians also rose to 352 this year from 318.
No BFP member died while responding to the fires this year and last year but 35 personnel were injured this year, from just 14 last year.
Damage to property from the fires so far recorded this year was placed at P2.74 billion, compared to P2.37 billion last year.
At the National Capital Region (NCR), the BFP said there were only 401 fire incidents reported from January 1 to April 2 this year, a decrease from 967 during the same period last year.
Damage to property in NCR was pegged at P659.49 million this year, from P552.84 million last year.
Civilian fatalities decreased to 14 this year, compared to 25 last year. There were 90 civilians injured this year, from 146 last year.
“Of course, we are expecting. That’s possible,” said Atienza when asked if they expect fire incidents to increase.
“We are not praying for it (increase). What we want is to lower fire incidents and our agency has adopted innovations and programs,” said Atienza.
“We’re going down to the community because many of these incidents occurred in residential areas. We need to emphasize the education of the community,” said Atienza.
Atienza said the country’s rising temperature contributes to the rising number of fire incidents.
She said they have recorded cases of chemical combustion due to extreme heat or without interaction to flames.
“Because of extreme heat, dried leaves in the backyard caught fire,” said Atienza. “So one way to prevent that is to clean our backyard of dried leaves.”
