EDITORIAL - Saving lives and property

It’s not yet the anniversary of the fire that razed the Ozone Disco in Quezon City, leaving around 170 people dead. But it’s good to remember that tragedy – the worst fire to hit the country during peacetime – as the nation once again marks March as Fire Prevention Month. That disaster six years ago this month should remind everyone about the horrific consequences of ignoring fire safety standards.

After the Ozone tragedy, local government and fire bureau officials rushed to inspect buildings and establishments for compliance with fire safety rules and regulations. There was no other major fire that year, but preventive measures are rarely sustained. Two years later, fire gutted a decades-old wooden structure that served as home to orphans and street children in Manila. More than 20 people, most of them children, were killed in the fire that was caused by faulty electrical wiring. Last year at least 74 guests at the Manor Hotel in Quezon City were trapped and killed as fumes from a fire that broke out on one floor suffocated them.

It’s not just the enforcement of fire safety rules that needs improvement. The nation’s fire-fighting capability is also inadequate. A report this week said 940 of the country’s more than 1,700 municipalities do not have fire trucks or other fire-fighting facilities. This may not be a major problem, according to the government, since most of the towns are in remote areas where fire incidents are rare. Most of the 7,413 fire incidents last year occurred in urban areas, with the majority reported in Metro Manila. The fires left 209 people dead, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which has jurisdiction over the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Even Metro Manila, however, lacks fire trucks and modern fire-fighting equipment. For prompt response to fire alarms, affected residents and even firefighters themselves often have to rely on the Filipino-Chinese community, which has its own volunteer fire brigade and fire trucks. As the nation marks Fire Prevention Month, the government should review its capability to prevent and respond to fire incidents, which claim hundreds of lives each year and destroy millions of pesos worth of property.