March is Fire Prevention Month

In the Philippines, every March is Fire Prevention Month.

During this month, the public is encouraged to have a proactive role in disseminating information on fire prevention, give preventive ways to prevent such incidents, and importantly, give knowledge on what to do in case an unfortunate accident strikes one’s household or community.

Every year since its proclamation, Filipino communities still experience fire incidents. In fact, in 2023, with 746 incidents reported by the Department of Social Welfare and Development – Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DSWD-DROMIC), 560 were fire incidents (70.8%). 143 of these reported incidents are recorded in Western Visayas. 

This year alone, DWSD-DROMIC already reported at least 300 incidents of fire (as of March 9, 2024) throughout the country. Indeed, fire continues to inflict damaging consequences on Filipino communities. This becomes apparent as Filipinos continue to struggle with access to knowledge and, significantly, poverty. The latter’s effects manifest themselves in the common Filipinos’ day-to-day conditions (a wage that keeps Filipino families living in homes made with lightweight materials, for example) and hampers the creation of a truly resilient community. Furthermore, the changing climate of the entire world that continuously raises the temperature keeps Filpino households in rural areas vulnerable to forest fires and the like.