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AFTER yesterday's three deaths in a fire in Banawa, Cebu City, Vice Mayor Michael Rama asked the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to inspect the safety of old structures.
In the same breath, he said he knows OBO lacks staff and mobility to do this.
Most of the time of OBO engineers on field is spent inspecting buildings, business and occupancy permits, said Eng. Josefa ?Joy? Ylanan, OBO chief.
She said OBO doesn?t inspect old buildings or ancestral houses unless there?s a specific complaint or report. They lack personnel and mobility.
The ideal staff number is at least 27 licensed engineers, she said.
OBO has 12 engineers and two vehicles. Three engineers go on field to check the validity of building applications and illegal constructions. The other nine process building and occupancy permits, and sometimes are assigned in the treasury department for business permit inspection.
Ylanan said she needs at least nine staff each to handle building permits, occupancy permits and for field work. She said OBO needs four vehicles, but has only two.
Electrical misuse and faulty wiring is the most common cause of fires in Central Visayas based on 2009 records.
There were more 11 percent more fires in 2009 than the previous year.
They also killed more people and resulted in 80 percent more damage to property.
Metro Cebu had the most number of fire incidents at 361 compared with Negros Oriental at 92; Bohol with , 69; and Siquijor with 11 based on the Bureau of Fire Protection regional office records of 533 fire incidents in Central Visayas
The total number of fire in 2008 was only 476.
In terms of deaths, 21 persons died from fires in 2009; in 2008, only 15 people perished.
For injuries, 2008 recorded 72 injured civilians and six fire firefighters while 2009 recorded 34 civilians and three firefighters.
Electrical misuse was the cause of 183 fires in 2009 and 175 fires in 2008. Unattended cooking or an open flame was the next most common cause with 172 recorded incidents in 2009 and 103 in 2008.
Smoking or throwing of cigarette butts, fireworks explosions and inflammable liquids comprised the rest of the recorded cases of fire.
Fires are classified as being either intentional or accidental. A total of 418 cases were considered accidental in 2009 and 357 cases in 2008. There were 16 intentional fires in 2009 and 17 in 2008. At least 99 fires in 2009 were classified as being of undetermined motive in 2009; 102 in 2008.
The fire department considers March a month especially vulnerable to fires due to high summer temperatures. The BFP would conduct an information campaign on Monday and succeeding days.
