Public again told to practice fire safety habits after Wednesday’s fire razes house
A burnt appliance is seen inside a house in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City, which was destroyed by a fire on Wednesday, Sept. 29. | Paul Lauro
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Firefighters in Cebu City is again asking the public to put in mind certain habits that can help them to avoid or prevent fire incidents from happening.
Senior Fire Officer 2 (SFO2) Wendell Villanueva of the Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO) made this call after a fire, which destroyed a house in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Wednesday, Sept. 29, occurred just two days after a firefighter advised residents to be fire-safety conscious. The previous reminder was made after a series of fires that hit the city a few days before.
These included the Barangay Kasambagan fire on Sept. 27 which destroyed an estimated P1.7 million worth of properties and the Barangay Sambag 1 fire on Sept. 25, which destroyed an estimated P4 million worth of properties.
Villanueva said that people should adjust their mindset to one who is fire-safety conscious or they should make a habit to do fire safety practices.
But first, he said that they should also know what would be the most common causes of fire incidents in one’s homes.
These included overheated electrical appliances, unattended cooking, open flame, and electrical short circuit.
With this, Villanueva said the public should make it a habit to switch off electrical appliances before leaving your home or your room.
He also said that one should also make it a practice to replace or repair defective wires, switches and sockets in one’s home.
He also advised the public to always turn off LPG tanks, stoves and other cooking appliances when these were not in use or when you leave the house.
He said that one should never leave what you would be cooking unattended even for a short period of time.
Aside from that, one should keep anything that can catch a fire near the cooking area or the stove. These include oven mitts.
Another fire safety habit to acquire is not to leave lighted candles or lamps unattended and to avoid smoking inside the house.
He also emphasized to keep matches away from the reach of children and if possible have a kid free zone in the cooking area where children will not be allowed at least three feet away from the stove.
He also suggested that if possible smoke detectors or smoke alarms should be installed in the homes.
He also said that it would be beneficial to the family if they would discuss fire safety to the children so that they would know how to stay safe in the event of a fire.
Household members should also plan a safe escape and ensure that they know two ways to escape from their respective homes in case a fire will occur.
He also said that in the event that a fire will happen, everyone must get out, stay out and call for help or call 911 or the nearest fire station.
Villanueva also stressed that if one was already out of the burning house, then no one should go back inside for anything or anybody.
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