By Rizal Obanil
Two ways to prevent a fire: Don’t use just one plug for multiple appliances or octopus connection and dispose of cigarettes and cigarette butts properly.
Firefighters aim their hose as they extinguish the fire that razed a residential area in Constancia St, Barangay Olympia, Makati City, Saturday morning, July 6, 2019. The fire reached the 3rd alarm. (MARK BALMORES / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
If you do those things, one is almost assured that your house is spared from the risk of catching fire.
This is because, according to Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) spokesperson Geranndie Agonos, the two easily preventable scenarios are the top two causes of fire in 2019.
“Number 1 na pinakamataas ‘yung electrical fire. Karaniwang sanhi ay overloading. Kapag ikaw ay nag-octopus connection ay 'yun ang nagiging resulta (The highest ranking cause is electrical fire. The most common cause is overloading. This happens when you use octopus connections),” Agonos said in an interview over GMA News’ Unang Balita on Monday.
“Ang ikalawa ay ‘yung cigarette butt, ‘yung hindi dini-dispose nang maayos ang cigarette, may baga. ‘Yung ikatlo 'yung open flame gaya ng naiwang siga o naiwang sinaing (The second one is cigarette butt/ lit cigarettes that are not properly disposed. The third one is an open flame like fire embers or rice cooking left unattended),” he added.
So far the BFP has reported some 18,000 fires for 2019. Most of these fires happened in residential areas, the BFP reported.
The month of March, which has just started this year, is known as the fire prevention month.
This year’s theme for Fire Prevention Month is “Matuto ka, Sunog, Iwasan na”, (Let’s learn our lesson and prevent fire).
Agonos likewise advised the public that prevent fire incidents, one need only remember the acronym PADRE or prevention, awareness, detection, reaction and evacuation.
He explained that one first needs to be aware if there is an ongoing fire or if one can actually prevent a fire from starting.
If the fire has started already, one has to determine where it is exactly and react accordingly or go to the last option of actually evacuating or leaving the place where the fire is happening.