Put Rapu-Rapu under state of calamity, execs told

MANILA, Philippines - Government firefighters have recommended that provincial officials place Rapu-Rapu, Albay under state of calamity after a bushfire razed some 6,000 hectares of forest and grasslands in two islands of the province.

In a report to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, Senior Chief Superintendent Carlito Romero, Bureau of Fire Protection chief, said an assessment team also recommended to prepare evacuations sites.

He said that 14 Forest Fire Protection Officers had been deployed from Albay to comply with the Secretary’s directive.

Romero said two Forest Fire Specialists who had been tasked to assume lead command at Rapu-Rapu Island had also boarded an Air Force plane with personnel from the Office of Civil Defense to conduct aerial assessment of the affected area.
          
The team had recommended the deployment of bucket bomb or choppers with water buckets to help contain the bush fire, he said.
          
Roxas on Monday directed the regional office of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bicol to mobilize all resources necessary to help contain an ongoing bush fire in Rapu-Rapu, Albay.

Roxas ordered the BFP-Regional Office in Bicol to coordinate with their counterparts from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ensure that the bush fire would not spread to residential areas nearby.

“I expect our BFP Regional Office to mobilize all possible resources. All our fire-fighters and fire trucks in the region must be ready to help the DENR contain the bush fire,” he said.

“Kailangang hindi makatawid ang sunog sa mga bahayan. We must ensure zero-casualty in this tragedy,” he added.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the bush fire started around 8 a.m. on Sunday with kaingin as the possible cause of the incident.

The NDRRMC said the fire has initially affected six of Rapu-Rapu’s 34 barangays --Poblacion, Morocborocan, Sitio Acal, Mananao, Guadalupe, and Buenavista, which were occupied by about 5,000 households.

Other fire incidents were reported in Sitio Minto, San Ramon and Batan Island.