BACLOD CITY—Grassfires ignited on the slopes of Kanlaon Volcano after a moderately explosive eruption Thursday night sent ash and superheated rocks into the air, prompting class suspensions and evacuations in parts of Negros Island.
The eruption occurred at 7:04 p.m. at the volcano’s summit crater and lasted two minutes, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
READ: Kanlaon Volcano erupts anew
Ash emission continued until 8:18 p.m., causing ashfall in La Castellana, La Carlota City, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Isabela, Kabankalan City, San Carlos City, Himamaylan City, and Binalbagan.
Bago City and Moises Padilla reported a sulfuric smell in some barangays. Several local government units suspended classes on Friday as a precaution, while some residents of La Carlota City evacuated.
Phivolcs said the eruption generated a plume that rose 2,500 meters above the crater and drifted southwest. Incandescent ballistic fragments fell around the crater, and pyroclastic density currents moved down the eastern and southeastern upper slopes within two kilometers of the summit.
Phivolcs will assess monitoring parameters over the next 24 hours to determine changes to the current Alert Level 2 status.
La Castellana Vice Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan said falling ballistic materials started the grassfires. Phivolcs volcanologist Ma. Andylene Quintia confirmed that superheated rocks triggered the fires.
The La Carlota City government clarified that the glowing trails seen Thursday night were burning vegetation and hot debris, not lava flows.
Seven families, or 26 individuals, from Sitio Batacon in Barangay Yubo, La Carlota City, evacuated Thursday night, according to the City Social Welfare and Development Office./coa