[ad_1]
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Saturday it did not receive any reports of firecracker fires across the country during the December Christmas season.
Firecracker-related injuries were also reduced by 85 percent compared to the same period last year. Only 50 people were injured from the use of firecrackers from December 21, 2020 to January 1, compared to 340 in December 2019.
That number is 89 percent lower than the 5-year average from 2015 to 2019.
“This is a success not only for our department this year, but also for Filipino families who have remained safe in their homes, away from COVID-19 and the fire hazard caused by fireworks,” said the DILG secretary, Eduardo Year.
Typically, in Metro Manila alone, there would be 10 or more firecracker fires.
Year said the drop could be attributed to the government’s information campaign against the use of firecrackers and public cooperation.
He added that the Fire Protection Office and PNP staff made rounds at barangays until New Year’s Eve to remind the public to stop using firecrackers during the holidays to avoid injuries and accidents.
The DILG chief said that nationwide there was a 52 percent decrease in fires caused by other factors in December 2020. There were 593 incidents last month compared to 1,246 in the same period in 2019.
A total of 37 were injured, including two members of BFP staff, while 10 were killed during the fires that mainly affected residential properties.
In the National Capital Region, a total of 4,417 incidents related to fires were reported from January 1 to December 31, 2020, 18.26 percent less than the 5,404 registered in the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, Año said the DILG will ensure that the police officer who allegedly indiscriminately fired his handgun in Malabon during the New Year’s festivities is fired from duty.
“It doesn’t matter if he was having an argument with his partner or if he fired his pistol to celebrate the New Year. What she did was against the law and she will face criminal and administrative sanctions and will be removed from the police service, ”he said.
Year said his department will not tolerate such behavior.
“She does not belong to the police service,” he added.
firecrackers, Department of the Interior and Local Government, DILG, Eduardo Year, New Year, holidays 2021, Office of Fire Protection, BFP, fires
[ad_2]