By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – With 88 fire incidents in Antique during the initial two months of 2024, causing PHP46.78 million in damages, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) urges public vigilance. Senior Fire Officer 1 Jefferson Cordero, the officer in charge of BFP-Antique Provincial Fire Safety Enforcement Section, emphasized in an interview on Tuesday that the drought accelerates fire spread.
We would like to remind the public to make sure that they don’t just indiscriminately throw their cigarette butts and to make sure that they put out the open flame from rubbish fire,” he said.
Of the 88 incidents, 17 were grass or forest fires, and the rest were industrial, residential, and other types of fires.
Last year, they only recorded 25 fire incidents over the same period.
The BFP has established the Community Fire Auxiliary Group (CFAG), especially in the remote barangays, serving as their first line of defense.
“The BFP-Antique had been conducting CFAG training participated (in) by barangay officials and other community folks on basic rope technique, bucket relay, and emergency services that they were able to assist us,” he said.
He said the CFAG helped the BFP suppress the forest fire that damaged about 20 hectares of agricultural and protected areas in Anini-y town on Feb. 12-13.
BFP-Antique Provincial Information Officer Eula May Raymaro said they kept reminding communities to observe fire safety every day and not only during this Fire Prevention Month.
“We have to remember that it only takes a few seconds for fire to spread, so we have to make sure that we always observe fire safety,” she said. (PNA)
