Fire season
At least 10 fires have occurred in Cebu in this month of March, also known quite ironically as Fire Prevention Month, when property and worse, human lives, go up in smoke as if in some perverse sacrifice to a malevolent spirit.
On Saturday, one of three lives lost to flames was a woman’s. Esperanza Aberion, 75, reentered her burning store in search of her nephew, Kevin, who had escaped. No one could rescue Aberion.
Two more fires broke out yesterday.
One of these, according to eyewitness accounts, started in a room in the house of Apas Elementary School principal Teresita Manzandes in barangay Lahug when a lighted prayer candle fell.
Last week, fire broke out in the stock yard of the former Sulpicio Lines in pier 7 of the Cebu International Port in Mandaue City. Fortunately nothing but discarded items were eaten by the flames.
If the minor blazes up and down the island were included in the tally, statistics would show that an average of more than one fire occurs somewhere in Cebu every day.
Fire prevention starts at home.
The usual reminders bear iteration: Never leave open flames unattended if you have to use them. Turn off the gas range or whatever cooking implement you are using as soon as the food is ready. Unplug appliances that are not in use. Do not overload electrical sockets. Do not “tap” or pilfer electricity, and be obedient to the Clean Air Act: No burning of garbage.
Responsibility for putting out fires belongs foremost to the fire department of a locality. Once more, we remind mayors to ensure that their barangays are all equipped with fire trucks, and captains to deploy the trucks to fire scenes pronto.
Senior Supt. Aderson Comar, Cebu City fire marshal, was in Mandaue City last week to canvas surplus fire trucks that can augment the fleet in his department. The public is closely watching the pace at which the city is improving its firefighting capabilities.
Monitoring is stricter at barangay level: Pardo residents noted that the first responders in Saturday’s fire were from neighboring barangays Cogon Pardo and Quiot. Why were the Pardo firefighters delayed?
And why does it take a fire hitting a congested location to jolt the powers that be in local government units into rethinking the layout of these places?
A proactive widening of roads, reblocking of neighborhoods and clearing of roadsides in the barangays is in order if delays in putting fires under control due to narrow passages to fire scenes is to be eliminated.
Parking and vending should be strict no-nos on sidewalks and side lanes.
Oftentimes, saving lives and property from fires is a question of consideration on the part of citizens expressed through obedience to simple laws.
