Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he is creating a task force to put safety measures in place at 195 identified red zones in Bacolod City to prevent fires from breaking out.
“They (Bacolod Fire Department) have identified 195 red zones but are still counting. The estimate will be over 200 red zones that will be given priority to ensure the implementation of safety measures,” Benitez said at a press conference on Monday, August 5.
Benitez held a meeting with representatives of various city departments and government agencies Monday to discuss preventive measures following fires that hit 94 houses in Purok Kagaykay in Brgy. 2 and Purok Kingfisher in Brgy. 16 last week.
Red zones are areas mostly occupied by informal settlers where safety standards have not been followed, Benitez said.
These are areas where houses are made of light materials and the required distance between structures is not followed, he said.
The building code requires a minimum distance of two meters from each house, Benitez pointed out.
He said Councilor Psyche Marie Sy, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Fire, Social Defense, and Natural Disaster, will take the lead in identifying the red zones.
One of the difficulties in implementing safety measures is ownership of the land, he said.
Benitez said they will talk to the landowners to see if they will agree with the plan of the city to implement some safety measures.
Councilor Vladimir Gonzalez said one possible option is onsite development if the landowners agree.
They also discussed standard operating procedures for crowd control during fires, Benitez said.
Purok Kingfisher president Alejandro Tiad, 49, succumbed to severe burns on Sunday after he returned to his burning home in Purok Kingfisher. Benitez said assistance will be provided to the family of Tiad.
Benitez said in the barangays 2 and 16 fires certain response deficiencies were observed, which they are will rectify.
Sy said it was agreed at the meeting Monday that the city government will provide the fire department with mobile phones that will serve as hotlines for fire calls.
The placement of fire extinguishers at red zones to help put fires out before firefighters arrive was also agreed on, she said.
Also among the red zone problems are narrow pathways that makes it difficult for firefighters to immediately put out fires, Sy said.
Councilor Lady Gles Pallen-Gonzales said they also discussed the setting up of alarm systems and the establishment of Community Fire Auxiliary Groups composed of 10 to 20 volunteers.*