The Barangay Pahina Central fire this morning, Dec. 31, 2022 is the 15th fire to hit Cebu City this month, says the Cebu City Fire Office. | Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of 15 fires were logged in December 2022 in Cebu City that destroyed an estimated P17.5 million worth of properties.
This is based on the records from the Cebu City Fire Station (CCFS) as of Saturday morning, Dec. 31, 2022.
The recent one happened this morning, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, in Barangay Pahina Central, which destroyed six houses and gutted three others. The fire also left 57 individuals homeless and injured two others.
READ: P3M worth of properties lost in Pahina Central fire
According to Senior Fire Officer 3 (SFO3) Wendell Villanueva, information officer of the Cebu City Fire Station, the 15 fires this month destroyed an estimated P17.5 million of properties.
These fires hit Barangays Budlaan, Mambaling, Basak San Nicolas, Guadalupe, Busay, Tisa, Mabolo, Kamputhaw, Inayawan, Cogon Pardo, Talamban, Duljo Fatima, and Pahina Central.
The Barangay San Nicolas fire on Dec. 4 has the highest loss of property with P9 million lost. This fire destroyed a commercial building.
The residential fire in Barangay Mambaling was the next fire with the second highest loss of property for the month with P3.7 million worth of properties lost.
The Cebu City Fire Station also said that majority of the fire in December 2022 affected residential houses.
This month’s number of fires, however, were fewer than last year, 2021, where the CCFS recorded 37 fires that destroyed P24.1 million worth of properties.
CCFS: 229 fires in 2022
Despite, the decrease in the number of fires in December this year as compared to December last year, Villanueva said that for the whole year of 2022 or from January to December 2022, the estimated damage to property had already reached half a billion pesos or P526 million.
He said that as of Dec. 31, some 229 fires hit Cebu City in 2022.
Electrical mishaps open fires, and unattended lighted candles remain the top three causes of fire in the city.
READ: Cebu City fires gobble up record P500M worth of properties in 2022
With this, Villanueva is urging Cebuanos to always exercise caution to avoid fires from happening especially during the New Year’s Eve celebration. They remained on heightened alert status in this crucial time.
“Manghinaot ang inyong kabomberohan nga wala lang untay kakulian nga mahitabo sa atong pagsugat sa 2023…ug labaw sa tanan, wala na untay mga daghang sunog ang atong marespondihan sunod tuig,” Villanueva said.
(Our firefighters are hoping that no untoward incident will happen in welcoming 2023…and most especially, we hope that there will be fewer fires that we have to respond to next year.)
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