Upland fires doubled in 2013; bad roads blamed

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Incidents of fire in the Cordillera doubled in 2013 but the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said bad roads and the mountain terrain in the region had prevented firemen from responding promptly.

BFP records said 637 fires struck Cordillera villages and cities last year, an increase from the 395 fires that the BFP fought and investigated in 2012.

In a recent news conference, Fire Senior Supt. Sergio Soriano Jr., BFP Cordillera director, said no roads in the Cordillera allowed fire trucks to drive straight to a house engulfed in flames. Soriano was describing the zigzag routes in many upland communities.

Occasionally, fire trucks arrived too late to a burning structure because they needed to travel from one mountain village to another to respond to an alarm, said Fire Chief Insp. Floyd Toyokan, BFP director in Mt. Province.

Soriano said the government’s solution was to increase local government capabilities to deal with upland fires by opening satellite fire departments and sending fire trucks to outskirt communities.

He said local government requests for fire-fighting equipment had been transmitted to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Most of the fires in the Cordillera in 2013 were due to cooking accidents and faulty house wiring, the BFP said, which prompted the bureau to expand its information campaign on fire prevention techniques.

The first quarter of 2014 showed little improvement from 2013.

Records showed that from Dec. 26 last year to Feb. 25 this year, the BFP dealt with about 100 forest and brush fires in the Cordillera.

Toyokan said Mt. Province recorded 43 fires in 2013, 27 of these involving woodlands. He said the BFP had recorded 21 fires since January. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon