Senator Cynthia Villar is urging the public to do their roles in preventing fires, as the country observes “Fire Prevention Month,” this March.
“I believe that every individual should be early in identifying the causes of fires and avoiding its dangers rather than being fully dependent on our firefighters,” Villar said.
The senator was the Guest Speaker during the 2023 Fire Prevention Month with the theme- “Sa Pag-iwas sa Sunog, Hindi ka Nag-iisa” held at Villar SIPAG, C5 Extension road, Pulanglupa 1, Las Piñas City on March 16.
Villar said that every year, the Villars together with Villar SIPAG in coordination with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) – Las Piñas, has been focussing on fire prevention.
“It is indeed our goal to minimize fire incidents for the safety of our people. Due to this, we are continuously intensifying our efforts of fire prevention, especially during Fire Prevention Month,” Villar said.
Villar related that they have been conducting activities to increase awareness of fires and ways to avoid them.
For this year, fire marshalls, fire brigade members, barangay tanods and volunteers of participating barangays showed their speed, alertness and capability to respond and contain a fire during the Las Pinas Inter-Barangay Fire Olympics.
The BFP also led a Fire Prevention Awareness Seminar wherein the public were taught first aid for fire victims and fire response demonstrations.
Practical tips to guarantee safety and the appropriate response to a fire were also tackled.
Although a fire may happen in any month of the year, she emphasized that statistics has shown there is higher incidence of fire every March at the start of the summer season.
Based on data gathered, in the previous year of 2022, there were around 13,000 fire incidents nationwide. This year, for the first 2 months- from January 1 to end of February 2023, total of 1,984 fire incidents occured. This figure is 21% lower compared to the 2,520 fire incidents for the same period last year.
But despite the decline in the number of fire incidents, Villar told the public they should always remain careful and watchful against fires.
The month of March was declared as the “Fire Prevention Month” as early as 1966 by virtue of Proclamation No. 115-A.