The Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO) advised the public to be extra careful to prevent more fires from happening.
Most of the fires took place in residential areas and commercial establishments, said Senior Fire Officer 2 (SFO2) Wendell Villanueva, information officer of the CCFO.
“Imagine that, almost P500 million worth of properties have been destroyed in just a span of six months. So if we will not be careful, there will be more properties that we worked hard to acquire will be destroyed,” said Villanueva.
Data from the CCFO showed that 26 fires were recorded in January, 16 in February, 26 in March, 13 in April, 17 in May, and 16 in June.
The fire incidents in January were the most devastating with properties amounting to P201 million going up in smoke.
Fire damage in the month of May reached P107 million.
From July 1 to July 21, 12 fires have been recorded with damage to property reaching P17 million, said Villanueva, compared to the same month a year ago.
“For the month of July in 2021, we only had 12 fire incidents and the fire damage only reached P436,000,” Villanueva said.
He said unattended cooking and faulty electrical wiring were the common causes of fires.
Villanueva said the CCFO will intensify its information dissemination for public awareness on how to prevent fires.
“Fire prevention is a concern of everyone. We are encouraging the public to take seriously the fire bureau’s advice on fire safety and to value the various related to fire prevention,” Villanueva said.