BFP: 40% more fire incidents so far in 2024

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has recorded 40% more fires since January 2024 compared to the same period last year.

In a public briefing on Friday, BFP spokesperson Fire Senior Superintendent Annalee Atienza said that 9,568 fires have been recorded this year until May 10, up 40.4% from the same period in 2023 when only 6,815 similar incidents were logged.

"Residential pa rin ang karamihan ng majority ng fire incidents natin (Majority of our fire incidents remain to be residential in nature)," she said.

The top three causes of the fire, the BFP said, were open flame from rubbish fire, smoking or lighted cigarette, and open flame on farm or agricultural lands.

Meanwhile, Atienza expressed hope that the BFP would get the nod from the Executive Department for the purchase of helicopters to combat forest fires.

"Tayo po ay nakaantabay lamang kung ano ang magiging tugon ng ating Pangulo hinggil sa pag-prioritize ng procurement nitong helicopters natin. Ang agency po ay nagkaroon na ng proposal to include that sa ating 2025 [budget]," she said.

(We are now awaiting the response of the President on prioritizing of the procurement of our helicopters. Our agency already had a proposal to include this in our 2025 budget.)

To date, the BFP said that 110 municipalities remain in need of fire trucks and fire stations.

"Hindi pa po lahat [ng municipalities] ay mayroong fire truck at fire station, at nakakalungkot po dahil minsan nagkakaroon ng insidente at kailangan ang karatig-bayan pa ang rumesponde sa lugar na ito or 'yung ating mga fire volunteers o 'yung mga barangay brigades natin are going back to basic firefighting which is bucket relay," said Atienza.

(Not all [municipalities] have fire trucks or fire stations. It's sad because sometimes there are incidents when nearby towns would have to respond to a certain area, or our volunteers or barangay brigades would have to resort to basic firefighting, which is bucket relay.)

"Mainam na din sana marinig tayo ng ating local government units para suportahan tayo sa procurement na ito," she added.

(It would be better if our local government units could hear us so they can support us on this procurement.) — VDV, GMA Integrated News