FAULTY electrical connections had been attributed as the root cause of the fire that broke out at the Davao City Hall of Justice, which resulted in its temporary closure, on Tuesday, October 18.
Senior Fire Officer 1 Nino Gin Glorio told SunStar Davao in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon that the fire incident was reported around 6:30 a.m., and was declared fire out at 7:15 a.m.
Glorio said the fire started at the office of the Public Attorney’s Office Regional Office.
The fire official said they were able to contain the fire from spreading, resulting in minimal damage costing around P10,000.
“Actually, didto lang na portion kung asa nagsugod ang sunog, didto ra ang na-damage sa sunog,” he said.
No one was also injured since the incident happened before work starts at 8 a.m., he said.
He added that the building had already installed fire sprinklers, which had also helped prevent the fire from spreading.
Glorio said that they recommended checking the electrical wiring near the office where the fire started.
He said this had prompted the entire Hall of Justice to be closed for the entire day.
“Hopefully, they said, they can resume their operation pagkaugma,” the fire official said.
Meanwhile, Glorio reminded the public to remain vigilant, and practice fire safety tips, including checking the electrical wiring of appliances.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) noted an 84 percent increase in fire cases in Davao City from January to September 2022 compared to last year.
Chief Inspector Christian Sena, Deputy Director of the Davao City Fire District, said in a press conference on Wednesday, October 12 that a total of 437 cases were recorded this year, while 293 cases were recorded in the same period last year.
The majority of these cases are caused by faulty electrical connections, followed by open flame, and lighted cigarette butt.
Sena, however, said damage costs reached P52.7 million for 2022. This is lower than the P131.06 million recorded damage cost last year. RGL