BFP: Fire victims may face negligence raps

MANILA, Philippines - Owners of homes where fires were found to have started could face charges of negligence resulting in death and damage to property, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said yesterday.                                           

The BFP issued the warning as the bureau expressed alarm over the 4,682 fires that were recorded from Jan. 1 up to March 30. Two more fires were reported yesterday.

The BFP recorded 5,455 fires during the same period last year.

The bureau’s records show that the most common causes of fires are unattended lighted candles or gas lamps; carelessness in discarding lighted cigarette butts; unattended cooking stoves; kaingin or burning grass and trees to prepare land for planting; pyrotechnics;  and children left alone playing with lighters or matches.

“Any person, whose utter negligence and carelessness is found to be the proximate cause of the fire will be facing criminal negligence charges, defined and penalized under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code,” BFP chief Director Ariel Barayuga said.

If found guilty, they face a prison term ranging from six months to six years, depending on the circumstances and the degree of negligence committed.

Parañaque, QC hit

Two fires broke out yesterday, the last day of Fire Prevention Month.

The blaze that hit several houses in Barangay La Huerta started at past 11 a.m. and reached Task Force Charlie around 20 minutes later.

Firefighters put out the flames within half an hour after it started. No one was reported injured, the fire department said.

In Quezon City, 22 families were left homeless after a fire broke out in Barangay Novaliches Proper before midnight Monday.

Fire marshal Jesus Fernandez said the fire was caused by an unattended cell phone that was being charged in the house occupied by Tomas Lanuza, 60.

The blaze spread and destroyed six nearby houses before it was put out at dawn yesterday.

Fernandez said the fire reached fifth alarm and destroyed P150,000 worth of properties.

Three people were hurt, among them Lanuza, his seven-year-old son Steven and 32-year-old daughter Beth. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde, Robertzon Ramirez