Fire burns to death centenarian, daughter BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA SAN DIONISIO, Iloilo – It is no mean feat to reach 100 years old. The tragic death of a centenarian in a fire here was thus doubly mourned. Lilia Villanes failed to run out of her house when fire struck. She was too old and too slow to do so. She burned to death with her 80-year-old daughter Santiaga, a spinster who had been taking care of her all these years. They were trapped in their house in Hacienda Conchita on Friday night around seven o’clock. The fire quickly engulfed their abode made of light materials. It was totally razed. Police here believed a lighted candle or kerosene lamp caused the deadly conflagration. The Villanes house stood in the middle of the field, too far from neighbors who weren’t fast enough to rescue them. After the fire, the charred bodies of the Villaneses were recovered. FIRE STATISCTICS The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Region 6 has long been reminding Western Visayas to be careful most especially with unattended lighted candles and kerosene lamps – one of the many reasons cited for several fire incidents last year. In 2012, a total of 990 fire incidents were recorded in the region. Of these, 497 or 50.2 percent happened in Iloilo, posting a 29.1 percent increment over the 2011 cases of 385. Despite the increase in fire incidence, damaged to properties significantly decreased by 47.2 percent – from P109.6 million in 2011 to only P57.9 million in 2012. More than half or 66.6 percent of fire incidents in Iloilo were accidental in nature, less than one percent was intentional; 32.6 percent remain under investigation. Blazes in Western Visayas claimed 12 lives, injured 55 persons and destroyed P175.3 million worth of properties last year. Deaths and injuries combined caused by fire drastically increased by 13.6 percent. However, monetary value of damaged properties dropped by 6.8 percent. Moreover, 73.0 percent of the total fire incidents that occurred in Western Visayas were accidental, 2.3 percent were intentional and 24.6 percent were still under investigation by the BFP. Across provinces, Negros Occidental followed Iloilo as having the highest number of fire incidents with 381 cases, of which 83.5 percent were accidental in nature. Aklan and Antique had the least incidents with 24 and 27 cases, respectively. In terms of damage, Negros Occidental suffered the biggest loss valued at P78.4 million, revealing a notable increase of 76.2 percent over the 2011 damage of P44.5 million. Following Negros Occidental were Iloilo and Antique, valued at P57.9 million and P23.9 million, respectively. Aklan and Guimaras had the least property damaged of about P3.6 million each. Five out of six provinces of Region 6 recorded increment on the number of fire incidents. Only Aklan was successful in reducing fire incidents by 11.1 percent – from 27 recorded cases in 2011 to 24 cases in 2012. Two-thirds of the total fire incidents in Aklan were accidental in nature and the remaining one-third were still under investigation. (With a report from the National Statistical Coordination Board/PN) ~angel~
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 01:24:32 +0000
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