BACOLOD CITY – The Bureau of Fire Protection reported a 160 percent reduction in fire incidents in the first three months of this year in this city.
The BFP said 42 fires were recorded from January to March, 67 fewer than the 109 in the same period in 2024.
THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Bacolod conducts fire safety lectures and hazard mapping across 284 fire-prone puroks in the city to educate residents on safety protocols and reduce the risk of fire incidents. (Photo via BFP-Bacolod)
Twenty-two residential fires were recorded, down 22 from last year. There were only three commercial fires, one storage, three business and government office, two structural, and five rubbish.
Grass and sugarcane fires, common during the dry season, went down to five from 27 the previous year, Fire Officer 2 Paul Servano, BFP-Bacolod spokesperson, said.
No industrial, mixed-type occupancy, educational, detention, healthcare, assembly places, electrical or post, or forest fires were reported in the past three months.
Damage to property from January to March this year was P1.6 million from P22.8 million in the same period last year.
Two civilians were injured in fires last year but only one this year.
February had the most fires in the first three months with 16 fires, followed by March with 14, and January with 11.
Servano credited the reduction to effective fire safety and prevention programs.
Since the third quarter of last year, the BFP has been conducting house-to-house visits in fire-prone areas to educate residents on fire safety.
They have identified 284 fire-prone areas or red zone areas and provided fire safety lectures and hazard mapping to residents to strengthen their presence in local communities.
Grade 9 student drowns
A Grade 9 student drowned in a river in Purok Maabi-abihon 1, Barangay Lag-asan, Bago City, Negros Occidental on Friday, April 4.
Police Master Sgt. Magno Pahayupan, Bago City Police Station investigator, said that the 17-year-old victim, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, Bago City, did not go to school and tagged along with his six friends to swim in the river.
The victim was seen by friends shouting for help while he was swimming but thought he was just joking. His friends called for assistance from bystanders when they saw him submerged in the water.
Rescuers recovered his body and he was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead in a hospital.
Pahayupan said that the victim may have suffered leg cramps and drowned.