‘Fire alert’ on in 4 Central Luzon provinces

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Amid threats of the El Niño dry spell, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here placed under "fire alert" four Central Luzon provinces yesterday.

The DENR noted that there are large tracts of readily flammable dry grasslands in the region’s forests.

"Forest fires commonly occur in grasslands where large volumes of volatile and dry matter could be found. Such fires usually spread out fast to nearby forests and cause massive destruction," warned DENR Regional Executive Director Regidor de Leon. Fire alert was raised in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bulacan and Zambales.

De Leon disclosed that forest fires account for about 64 percent of the region’s total deforestation rate. Around 58,672 hectares of forest plantations in Central Luzon are prone to wildfires, he said. In the past two years, forest fires destroyed a total of 2,561 hectares.

"Forestry experts estimate that without government reforestation and protection efforts, Central Luzon’s forest cover would be gone by 2050," De Leon said.

DENR Deputy Director for Forestry Ricardo Calderon said he has already fielded 261 forest protection officers and fire-fighting crew in fire-prone areas in Central Luzon.

"Forest fires usually break out during the months of February until May when there is very little rainfall. Wind direction and type of vegetation determine how fast and how far forest fires would spread," he explained.

Calderon urged people’s organizations involved in Community-Based Forest Management Program (CBFMP) and holders of other forest management agreements to speed-up the establishment of fire and "green breaks" in their plantations and to activate their fire protection patrols.

He appealed to local government units and communities near forest areas to watch out for fire breakouts, stressing that public vigilance is necessary to enable the DENR to respond quickly to fire emergencies.

Forest fires in Central Luzon last year destroyed a total of 99 hectares of forest plantations valued at P2 million. This, however, was lower than the 2,462 hectares gutted in 2003.