Nationwide fire incidents up by 40%

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) recorded a total of 9,568 fire incidents from January 1 to May 10 this year, which was 40 percent higher compared to the 6,815 cases logged during the same period in 2023.

In its latest report, the BFP noted that this year’s fire incidents resulted to ₱4,276,266,678.80 damage to property, up by 1.7 percent from the 2023 record of ₱4,206,267,820.97 over the same period.

During the latest fire incidents, the BFP reported a total of 165 civilian fatalities, 496 injuries, and 46 injured BFP personnel.

The BFP said that open flame from rubbish fire/bonfire to structural fire’ remains as the top cause of fire incidents with 1,126 cases; followed by smoking (lighted cigarettes, cigars, pipes) with 526 recorded incidents.

Under the classification of fire incidents, the BFP said that 5,962 were accidental, 119 were due to natural causes, 46 were intentional, 43 remained undetermined, 45 were caused by negligence and 3,391 fire cases were still under investigation.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), the BFP said that fire incidents decreased by 56.3 percent — from 1,436 (January 1 to May 10, 2023) to 628 fire incidents this year.

The BFP added that civilian fatalities from the latest Metro Manila fire incidents dropped to 20 from the previous record of 34; while recorded injuries also went down to 142 compared to the 198 wounded in 2023.

However, the number of BFP injured personnel in Metro Manila rose to 25 compared to the reported 11 hurt last year.