The Bureau of Fire Protection Davao District will kick-off various fire prevention activities in March in observance of the Fire Prevention Month.
Fire Senior Inspector Frances Marie Sendrijas, Chief of the Public Information Unit of the Davao City Fire District, said during the I Speak Media Forum on Thursday that the kick-off ceremony will be held on March 3 at the University of Mindanao ROTC field.
A motorcade from the Davao City Fire District to the University of Mindanao ROTC field will mark the campaign.
“We will be having a pass in review drill so it is more like a parade of our contingents from different provinces within Davao Region,” she said.
A fire square roadshow is also scheduled at SM City Davao Annex Activity area on March 15 and 16, and at Ayala Malls Abreeza Activity Area on March 29 and 30.
Meanwhile, at San Pedro Square on March 22-23, a two-day Fire Olympics to be participated in by different fire brigades within Davao City, barangay responders, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), and organic personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will be held.
On March 4, a high-density fire drill will take place at SM Ecoland and SM Lanang.
This year’s fire drill will be held amid the rising number of fire incidents.
Sendrijas said that fire incidents from January to February 24, 2025 surpassed the fire incidents recorded in the same period last year by 6.30 percent. A total of 111 fire incidents occurred this year, compared to 104 cases from January to February 2024.
She said that the top cause of fire was electrical ignition caused by loose connection with a total of 21 cases, followed by electrical ignition caused by arching with 15 cases, and the third is from open flame emanating from rubbish fire or bonfire to structural fire, 15 cases.
“For 2025 mas mataas ang increase ng non-residential fires, when you say non-residential ito po yung mga industrial or commercial buildings natin and then it is followed by the transport na fire incidents yung mga vehicular-related fire incidents, then tumaas din actually yung non-structural, when I say non-structural yun po yung post on fire, grassfire or rubbish fire po natin (For 2025 there an increase in non-residential fires, when you say non-residential, these are the industrial or commercial buildings, followed by transport fire incidents or those related to vehicular fire incidents, then the non-structural fire also increased. When we say non-structural, these are posts on fire, grassfire, or rubbish fire),” she said.
Sendrijas said that the number of cases for residential fire this year is 30 percent lower than those recorded between January to February 2024. A total of 43 incidents were recorded by the BFP during the same period in 2024 while only 33 cases are recorded this year during the same period.
The barangays with the most number of cases are Buhangin Poblacion, Calinan Poblacion, Panacan, Talomo Poblacion; Angliongto Sr., Catalunan Pequeño and Matina Crossing.
Sendrijas said that they continue their fire safety activities in the communities through the Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan Program.
“We have the Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan Program of the Bureau of Fire Protection and of course, we continue to raise awarness lalo na po doon sa residents dito sa Davao City na as much as possible, not to take this [fire prevention] for granted kasi napakahalaga po talaga ng fire prevention para po din maiwasan ang pagtaas ng sunog kasi community is a very important factor. Siyempre sa pag iwas natin ng sunog (We have the Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan Program of the BFP and of course, we continue to raise awareness, especially for the residents of Davao City to not take this for granted because fire prevention is very important in reducing cases of fire incidents as the community is a very important factor in avoiding fire),” Sendrijas said. CIO
