Member agencies of ‘Iwas Paputok’ task force in Northern Mindanao share their observations of Christmas and New Year revelries in a forum at SM Uptown, Cagayan de Oro City, January 17, 2025. Photo supplied
MindnaoToday.com | BFP-10: Not a single fire was caused by fireworks
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – There were 59 fire incidents in Northern Mindanao within December last year, but not one was due to fireworks, the Bureau of Fire Protection 10 (BFP-10) reported on Friday, January 17.
“About 70 percent of these were traced to electrical short-circuit due to overloading,” said Fire Senior Superintendent Rommel Villafuerte of BFP-10 in a Talakayan sa PIA forum at SM Uptown mall here.
This, he said, means 40 of the 59 fires that were responded to by firefighters and roughly an eight-percent reduction compared to 64 incidents in December 2023.
Villafuerte, the designated BFP-10’s assistant regional director for operations, said negligence such as unattended cooking, lighted candles, and vehicular accidents were among the other causes.
Although he could not categorically say the overloading to Christmas lights, yet he pointed out that power supply could trip off if jumpers and “octopus” connections were used in installing them.
Professional electricians, he said, know best and must be consulted not only for additional household illuminations but every time new electrical appliances are acquired.
He said that lighted firecrackers and pyrotechnics indiscriminately thrown and launched could land on highly combustible materials and could trigger a blaze, hence public fireworks areas are advised.
Villafuerte commended those behind the organized fireworks exhibitions, particularly those at Limketkai and SM Uptown malls and at Xavier Estates that delighted city residents and brought excitements and joys in welcoming the new year.
He said the organizers coordinated with the BFP, hence the areas for the fireworks were inspected, making those all houses within the vicinity are safe. Standby emergency ambulance, loaded firetruck were required as well as the presence of health and BFP personnel.
“Those who ignite and launch them (pyrotechnics) must have been trained and experienced,” the BFP-10 official said. “We cannot prevent people from celebrating, we only regulate the sale and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics.”
Police Colonel Ramil Wafer, who heads the Regional Community Affairs and Development Division (RCADD) of the Police Regional Office 10 (PRO-10), agreed with Villafuerte that the sale and use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices must be regulated.
Wafer said they have confiscated P113,000-worth of banned firecrackers and pyrotechnics devices without either product standard (PS) or import commodity clearance (ICC) markings. Other than checking the quality, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum circular must be complied with by local governments.
Parents, he said, must educate their children, showing them by example that lighting firecrackers and pyrotechnics are not necessary to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
He said PRO-10 has already done away the masking of the muzzle or barrel of service firearms of police personnel at the start of the Christmas season which was the practice in the past to make sure not one would pull the trigger and fire indiscriminately.
“We have arrested one police personnel and two civilians for illegal discharge of firearms,” the RCADD chief reported in the forum. “The police would be charged criminally and administratively,” he added, but refrained from disclosing other details.
Although the briefer of the Department of Health 10 (DOH-10) on fireworks-related injuries (FWRI) showed that not one was hit by a stray bullet from December 21, 2024 to January 9, 2025, yet the number of FWRI went up by 10 percent to 42 from 37 incidents compared to the same 2023-2024 surveillance period.
Medical Doctor Tristan Jediah Labitad, who heads the DOH-10’s non-communicable diseases cluster, said that although the number of FWRIs increased a bit but nobody lost a finger due to amputation or lost an eyesight due to injuries. All those hurt were treated and well, he said. [Uriel Quilinguing/MT]
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