12 fires break out on New Year's Day

MANILA, Philippines - At least 12 fires occurred in Metro Manila during the first 12 hours of 2012, leaving a drunken man dead and another injured, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said yesterday.

BFP officials said the fire in Navotas was confirmed to have been caused by firecrackers while two incidents in Paranaque were being investigated.

In a report to Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, the BFP National Capital Region (NCR) under Chief Superintendent Santiago Laguna said 12 fires were recorded from 12:01 a.m. to 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 1.

BFP-NCR spokesman Chief Inspector Renato Marcial said the bureau logged 21 fire calls from 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 8 a.m. yesterday, but many of them were either false alarms or quickly contained.

He said the lone fatality, Danny Lipata, 27, was burned beyond recognition in the fire along Pildera street in Pasay City at around 4:21 a.m. yesterday. His friend said he was merely visiting and was sleeping at second floor of the house.

 “As the blaze engulfed the house, the portion of the second floor gave in and he fell near a burning liquefied petroleum gas tank. His body was charred beyond recognition,” Marcial said.

Another person, who remains unidentified, was injured in the Pildera street fire. Ten houses were destroyed in the blaze, believed to have started in the house of Jay Panganiban, and 16 families were left homeless. Losses from the fire were estimated at P1.7 million.

More deaths in 2011

Although there were only 188 fires last year compared to 277 in 2010, Marcial said there were 85 deaths in 2011 while there were only 43 the previous year.

“In December 2010, there were only two who perished in fire incidents but last December, 24 persons, mostly children, died (in fire incidents),” he added.

With the statistics, Santiago is reminding the public to help the fire department in their campaign and efforts to attain zero fire incident by becoming a fire safety conscious individual.

“Everyone should get involved in the fire safety programs of the BFP, the community should become more aware that fires can be prevented within their own backyards, all they have to do is to practice the maximum level of fire safety precautions that the BFP is advocating,” Laguna said.

Marcial said that in some cases, the victims died when they failed to get out of the house due the grills on the windows. He said grills can be made in a way that people can still escape during emergencies.

Marcial also advised parents not to leave their children without an elder to guide them during emergencies. He noted that the BFP-NCR still needs 445 firetrucks to meet the ratio of one firetruck for 28,000 people.

“There are about 12 million people in Metro Manila and the BFP-NCR has not enough fire trucks,” said Marcial, who said 65 of the 170 fire trucks in Metro Manila were unserviceable and only 105 trucks are available for the metropolis.

Blazes

According to ABS-CBN, a fire hit an antique shop in Kamuning, Quezon City at dawn. City fire chief Superintendent Bobby Baruelo said the fire started at the second floor of a house owned by Paulo Gonzales on Kamuning Road. The fire reached third alarm.

Gonzales said there was no one at the shop when the fire broke out. Arson probers peg losses from the fire at P2 million.

Another fire broke out in a Pasay City slum, along the streets of Primero de Mayo and P. Villanueva. No one was hurt but 33 families were left homeless. Probers pegged the property damage at P2.5 million.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but firefighters said it started at the house of Myrna Placidos at around 2:55 a.m. and reached Task Force Alpha before it was put out at around 6:40 a.m. Task Force Alpha, according to Senior Fire Officer 2 Bernardo Bermejo, means all available firetrucks in neighboring districts are needed to help local firefighters.

In Parañaque City, three fires broke out. A radio operator at the city’s central fire station said a fire hit houses along Mabini street in Barangay Don Galo at around midnight, but was immediately put out.

Forty minutes later, another fire broke out at Fortunata Village. It only reached first alarm but destroyed P1.5 million in properties.

At around 1:05 a.m., another fire broke out, but details were sketchy. The radio operator said only the estimated P200 damage was recorded in the fire station’s logbook.

In Caloocan City, a fire spread throughout a residential area behind the Maypajo Market at around 4:49 a.m. The fire reached third alarm, and lasted 45 minutes before it was under control. Firecrackers were said to be the cause of the fire.

The BFP-NCR said a fire was reported in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City allegedly caused by electrical overload.

In Valenzuela City, a lit firecracker landed on the roof of George Trinidad’s garage in Barangay Balubaran at around 12:05 a.m. Firefighters put out the blaze within 15 minutes, Fire Officer 1 Julius Vasquez said.

At around 12:36 a.m., another fire of still unknown origin broke out at the second floor of a three-story residential building owned by Noel Dulot in Sta. Lucia Village in Barangay Punturin.

The blaze was put out at about 1:02 a.m. with no one reported hurt, Vasquez said.

In Malabon City, an estimated P1 million worth of property was destroyed when a 20-minute fire broke out at a motorcycle warehouse in Barangay Niugan.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Rogelio Gayon said no one was at the warehouse when the blaze occurred.

“Most probably, it was caused by a firecracker that accidentally landed in the warehouse at the height of the New Year revelry,” Gayon Said.

Although firemen were able to put out the blaze in around 20 minutes, Gayon said it damaged some P1 million worth of motorcycles. – With Pete Laude