EDITORIAL - Don’t play with fire where fire safety is concerned

Since the start of June it seems that every day there was a fire somewhere in Cebu.

There was that fire in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City, last Thursday. That fire in the Danao City market last Friday. The Aloguinsan fire that killed a three-year-old last Saturday. Then yesterday there were two other fires in Cebu City, one in Barangay Tisa and another in Barangay Ermita which was still ongoing at the time of this writing.

Of course there were other fires no longer mentioned here.

What gives? Is it something in the air? The intense summer heat perhaps? Or are we just that bad when it comes to fire safety?

Fires are a particular scourge in a city like Cebu which has so many close communities. By close we don’t just mean in good relationships, we mean close as in many houses, usually made of light materials, are built wall-to-wall, making it easier for fires to spread.

Close as in there isn’t much of a pathway or roadway between such clusters of homes, usually hampering rescue efforts and, again, allowing flames to spread even quicker.

In some way we can say a fire is more destructive and its effects more lasting than the other disasters borne of natural elements. While floods are storms are just as bad, people usually still have a home to return to after the water has subsided or if typhoon damage was minimal.

This is not the same as in a fire where sometimes entire neighborhoods are engulfed and completely destroyed, and whole communities have to be sheltered and fed in a central location.

People should be aware of what is at stake and what they stand to lose if they play with fire where fire safety is concerned, pun intended.

Let’s not forget the basics; make sure we always watch our cooking, that our power outlets are not overloaded, that kids have no access to matches, that our pathways are not obstructed.

That vigilance against fires always promoted during the March, which is designated as fire prevention month, should also apply to the other months of the year.