Fire incidents dip, fee collection up

Fire incidents in the city of Dumaguete have gone down by 58 percent in year 2009 compared to 2008 even as fire code collection fees have gone up by as much as 32.7 percent.

Records made available by City Fire Marshall Senior Inspector William Tacaldo indicate that there were only nine fire incidents recorded from January to December 2009 while 24 were recorded on the same period in 2008.

On the other hand, the collection of fire code fees increased from just P 1.7 million in 2008 to P 2.5 million in 2009. Senior Fire Officer 4 Victor Callet, who is also Officer-in-Charge of the City Fire Department, contends that this indicative of the city’s growth in terms of the number of new buildings being erected.

Of the nine fire incidents recorded in 2009, investigators concluded that five of which were caused by electrical, two by cigarettes, one by explosive or fireworks and another of still unknown cause. All reported fire incidents in 2009 were structural in nature.

The city fire department has a fleet of six fire trucks but Callet believes, the bureau really needs a water super tanker to boost its fire fighting capability. In 2009, the city was reported to have approved the budget to purchase a tanker but somehow the budget was believed to have been re-aligned for other purposes.