The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is urging the public to be “fire conscious” to avoid incidents and loss of lives as the observance of Fire Prevention Month began on Tuesday.

The observance in the province was marked by motorcades conducted by fire stations in their respective municipalities.

BFP provincial director, Fire Supt. Christopher Regencia, in an interview, said amid the pandemic, the bureau is sounding the call, hoping they could achieve the target of zero fire incident and casualty.

The BFP has recorded 783 fire cases in 2020 with losses amounting to PHP63.17 million and 532 in 2021 with PHP105.32 million worth of property destroyed in Iloilo province.

“The incidents (in 2021) were lower because it was during this time that the people were just at their homes due to the health pandemic,” Regencia said.

Damage last year was higher due to the fire that razed the public market of Oton municipality on December 20.

A total of 159 fire incidents were recorded in the first two months of the year, with losses reaching more than PHP16.6 million.

The BFP has recorded 14 deaths in the past two years – eight in 2020 and six in 2021.

Injured were 25 civilians and four firefighters in 2020 and 18 civilians last year.

Regencia said in case of fire, the affected household may put off the blaze while it is still at an early stage but once it is already on the advanced stage, they are advised to immediately evacuate to secure their lives.

“The fire is on its advanced stage when almost one-half of the house has been burned, and there is no chance that it can be put off through (the) bucket brigade, especially when the BFP is not yet around,” he said.

Meanwhile, in addition to the motorcade, BFP-Iloilo also joined the national simultaneous blowing of sirens at noon.

On March 4, the BFP will gather selected learners from various schools for the poster-making and essay-writing contests.

“During the contest, our personnel will be sharing with them some fire prevention tips,” he said.

The BFP will open its stations and hold a static display of its fire-fighting capability to raise public awareness of the bureau’s efforts on fire prevention and consciousness, Regencia added.

Other activities are the simultaneous fire drill and possible symposiums in selected barangays.

This year’s observance is anchored on the theme “Sa Pag-iwas sa Sunog Hindi ka Nag-iisa!” (PNA)