The Bacolod Fire Station responded to 209 grass fires from January to March, the largest of which were at the reclamation area, as the El Niño heat rises, Chief Inspector Stephen Jardeleza, city fire marshal, said on Tuesday, March 19.
They also responded to 33 rubbish, three sugarcane and 23 posts’ fires in the same period, he added.
Also hit by fire were 37 residential, seven commercial, two storage, three government and seven other miscellaneous structures in Bacolod causing a total damage of P16.2 million, a fire station report released Tuesday showed.
“Grassfires are dangerous as they could hit houses. Putting them out also cause a waste of water, fuel and manpower that are needed to respond to structural fires,” Jardeleza said.
An about 100 square-meter grass fire hit the reclamation area on Tuesday, March 19.
A close to two-hour grassfire also hit three hectares at the reclamation area near Gate 3 of the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (BREDCO) port in Barangay 8, on Monday, March 18.
On Thursday, March 14, an about five-hour grassfire hit three hectares at the reclamation area covering barangays 2, 6 and 8.
Jardeleza said there are some makeshift shanties made of tarpaulins and bamboo in the middle of the grasslands at the reclamation area, where occupants cook their food and smoke.
There are also drivers and passengers of parked trucks who cook their food in the area and sometimes embers are blown by the wind into the drying grass, he said.
The Bacolod Fire Station will conduct controlled burning by cutting the grass in the reclamation area into manageable blocks, in the presence of the BREDCO and barangay safety and emergency teams.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Saturday called on landowners in the city to trim the grass in their vacant properties to prevent grassfires from breaking out.*