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CAUSES OF FIRE INCIDENT: A CASE STUDY

May 2023

INTRODUCTION

In our Philippine society, there are distinctive numbers of fire incidents that may

occur at the same time and any place. Fire incident may be occur through naturally, or

can be manmade. One of those so-called fire incidents that generate from various causes

of fire, such as heating, faulty wiring, flammable liquids etc. The existence of this kind of

incident can be stimulating tremendous damage to life and property. However, its

occurrence may be avertible, providing the different kinds of fire management strategies

and safety measures that can provide specifically by the personnel of the Bureau of Fire

Protection.

On the other hand, as guided by the provision R.A No. 9514, otherwise known as

the Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008, it is stated that this code shall be administered

and enforced by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), under the direct supervision and

control of the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection. With this, it is stated that the BFP

personnel are authorized to issue implementing rules and regulations in relevance to this

code, and they are responsible for assisting practitioners and volunteers who shall
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undergo mandatory fire suppression inspection as well as rescue. These above-mentioned

are some of the responsibilities of the BFP, specifically in the prevention of fire as stated

in Section 5 under this supervision. Furthermore elaborating, Wong et. Al (2014) stated

that, One of the examples of which is basing the emergency plan on the outcome of fire

safety risk assessment.

However, despite of all the provided safety measure management strategy, still

there are certain cases of fire incident that happened and were reported here in the

Philippines. Moreover, BFP personnel deals on struggles in responding fire incidents.

According to Marquez (2019), the Philippines was hit by more than 100 fires due to

unattended candles, gas lamps, faulty electrical connections. The International

Association of Fire and Rescue Services recorded 2.5 to 4.5 million fires that occur every

year, and 21 to 62 thousand deaths are considered as fire casualties. This continuing

experience of disastrous fire marks as one of the severe catastrophes in history. More so,

in Tangub City Misamis Occidental, three (3) cases of fire incident occurred as of 2022

from January to May. Such number of fire incident can be lessened if it is systematically

planned to prevent casualties and losses.

Thus, this paper intends to determine the common causes of fire incidents that

occur. It also aims to identify the strategies of Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) personnel

for the prevention of the possible fire occurrence to leased casualties and losses of

properties.

Literature Review
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Accordingly, BFP recorded 2,103 fire incidents in January and February, an

increase of 12.9 percent from only 1,863 incidents in the same period in 2021. As stated

by the International Fire and Security Exhibition and Conference (IFSEC), annually there

are thousands of lives have lost as well as the destructions of billions worth of property, it

cannot be avoidable because of the occurrence of fire due to negligence.

General Objectives

This study aimed to investigate a depth study analysis on the possible causes of

fire incident; the problems encountered by the BFP personnel during suppression and

determine the strategies of BFP Personnel in the prevention mitigation of fire incident

occurrence.

This study sought to answer the following questions.

1. What are the possible and common causes of fire incident?

2. What are the ways and means of BFP personnel on the prevention of fire

incident and mitigation of the possible fire occurrence?

Significance of the study

The topic is important to study, for the residents of Tangub City, Misamis Occidental,

specifically the following listed below.

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LGU. This could help the Local Government Unit to be more initiative in making

the community feel the presence and help of the Government and being

trusted by the community.

Law Enforcement Agency. It will also be beneficial to the law enforcement

agencies like Bureau of Fire protection (BFP) to have the relationship

between community and Law Enforcement agencies for the safer

community and it can avoid conflict between Community relations to the

Law Enforcement Agency. It will also help BFP to strengthened their

Intervention programs implemented to lessened the cases and inform the

community for the prevention of fire in order to avoid disaster.

Residents. This could help the residents of every barangay in Tangub City,

Misamis Occidental in terms of their safety and awareness with regards to

fire prevention and safety measure. The residents are the beneficiary all of

the positive outcome of the all the intervention program of the Bureau of

Fire Protection (BFP)

School. This work may benefit the School, Gov. Alfonso D. Tan College,

specifically the Institute of Criminal Justice Education to be able to design

community extension program with optimized societal outcome in

collaboration with the Bureau of Fire Protection. Furthermore, the result of

this study will also serve as a guide to conduct Intervention Program that

the community would feel the presence of the Institution.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology used in this study was discussed in order to achieve the

purpose of this study. These are the research design, research settings, informants of the

study, research instruments, data analysis, data gathering procedure and ethical

consideration.

Research Design

This study employed a pure qualitative research design. According to Pritha

Bhandari (2020) qualitative research involves collecting analyzing non-numerical data to

understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights

about problem or generate new idea for research.

Research Settings
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This study was conducted at the Tangub City Fire Station (TCFS) Misamis

Occidental.

Research Informants

The informants of this study were the three (3) Fire Officers assigned in Tangub

City Fire Station (TCFS). Purposive sampling was used in identifying the participants,

and only those who met the following criteria were selected.

1. Fire Officers assigned in Tangub City Fire Station from the date of the gathering

data.

2. Fire Officers who have rendered their duties in Tangub City Fire Station (TCFS)

for at least one year.

3. Fire Officers who expressed the willingness, to participate in the study.

Research Instrument

The study utilized researcher-made interview guide questions in uncovering the

Causes of Fire Incident occurred. For better understanding, the interview guide questions

were translated into vernacular. This method guaranteed the understandability of the

questions and the effectiveness of communication among participants. The questions

consisted of opening questions, core questions, and closing statement. The interviews

were recorded using an audio recording device to capture essential data, and provide

accurate and detailed account of the interview process. The recorded data were

transcribed analyzed and interpreted.

Data Gathering Procedure

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Prior to the conduct of the study, the researchers will write a letter of permission

checked by the adviser and the instructor. They handed it into the City Fire Marshal of

Tangub City Police Station. When it was approved, the researchers start data gathering

through a face-to-face interview with the informants. The responses were analyzed until

the saturation point was obtained. Due to the Covid-19 Virus, minimum health protocols

were followed. Before conducting the actual interview, wearing of face mask and

physical distance was strictly observed and followed to ensure that health protocols set by

IATF has been followed and to avoid as well the virus.

Data Analysis

In order to conduct a thorough analysis of the data, appropriate qualitative

descriptions were used. The information obtained from the informants was accurately

transcribed. In order to document a code or a theme from various sources of data, the

researcher used triangulation, and reliable findings were produced. It is defined as "any

qualitative data reduction and sense-making endeavor that aims to discover core

consistencies and meanings from a large volume of qualitative data." Thematic analysis

was used to analyze the data in this study. Thematic analysis is defined as the act of

encoding qualitative data into codes, words, or phrases that serve as labels for data

sections.
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CASE STUDY

Facts and Issues

That on or about 0925H 30 January 2022 a fire incident transpired at Barangay

Lorenzo Tan Tangub City, according to the TCFS, a certain Mark Gorre informed on

their station through cellular phone that fire is in progress at Purok 4 Lorenzo Tan

Tangub City. Fire officer on duty SFO Perlin together with SFO3 Gutterez, FO3 Hera

and FO2 Cabriana Immediately responded the incident.

Upon the arrival thereat on or about 0930H 30 January 2022 it was revealed by the

responder that two residential houses made of light materials has on fire and already

consumed by fire and suppression commenced. The responder declared fired out OOA

0948H 30 January 2022 and has estimated damage of 100,000 more or less.
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The investigation conducted by TCFS Investigator SFO3 Guttierez, that according

to one of the owner of the residential house, they heard and explosion after a while a

smoke was seen coming out and the fire immediately spread into the other house. The

resident immediately run out of their house and shout some help. Investigation revealed

that the causes of the fire incident is faulty wiring, according to the investigator a pinched

wire to service drop and the wires are glued together the reason why the breaker explode

and produce fire.

As a result, the finding of the case is a faulty electrical wirings resulting for

explosion of the breaker where the fire started resulting to the whole house was set on fire

and burning.

Analysis of the Study

One of the main reason why many lives were taken, billions worth of properties

has lost and thousands of casualties annually have been recorded around the world

because of fire incident. Fire is such an unpredictable force, and it can escalate quickly,

making what seemed to be regular activity instantly dangerous.

In the meantime, prevention is better than cure. In this part of the study, we will

try to determine the result and discussion after the researchers gathered the data.

Leading and Common Causes of Fire Incident

1.1) Faulty Electrical Connection/ Electrical Overloading

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The usual causes of fire due to electrical faults are old wiring, improper

connections and poor/damage wire quality. Electrical overloading occurs when the

current being passed through the wires exceed the capacity limit the wires can handle:

these can heat up the wires and melt, leading to fire. According to HEMS (2012), the

most common causes of fire where still faulty electrical wiring and neglected open

flames. However, there are many factors that can contribute to the occurrence and

proliferation of fires, such as weather/ climate, fuels, ignition agents and human factors.

( Achard, Eva, Mollicone, & Beuchle , 2008).

1.2) Candles

Every candle comes with a warning: this is another factor on causes of fire

incidents. A burning candle that left unattended may lead to fire incident

1.3) Smoking

Among the most common causes of house fires is the consequence of negligent

smoking habits. People sometimes fall asleep while smoking. In doing so, they can set

their bed, chair or couch on fire, which can easily result in a fatality. Another avoidable

hazard is discarding still-hot ashes into a trash can where they can ignite.

1.4) Children

Small children unknowingly playing with fire or matches inside the home are one

of the leading causes of house fires. Older kids who know what fire can do and just want

to see what happens are equally dangerous. Though there may be no way to curb their

curiosity entirely, it’s possible to mitigate potential disaster by talking to children about
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how destructive careless behavior around fire may be. Proper guidance of children may

prevent from disastrous fire incident.

1.5) Illegal Tapping of Wiring

The Anti-electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994

categorizes illegal use of electricity as:

1) tapping to any connection with overhead lines, service drops, or other electric service

wires, without previous authority or consent of the private electric utility or rural electric

cooperative concerned,

2) Flying connections, or tapping any connection to existing electric service facilities of

any duly registered consumer without the latter’s or the electric utility’s consent or

authority,

3)tampering, installing or using a tampered electrical meter, jumper, current reversing

transformer, shorting or shunting wire, loop connection or any other device which

interferes with the proper or accurate registry or metering of electric current.

4) Damaging or destroying an electric meter, equipment, wire or conduit or allowing any

of them to be so damaged or destroyed as to interfere with the proper or accurate

metering of electric current.

Based on the result, most of the participants said that faulty electrical wiring, are

the most common causes of fire incident. There are some instances that fire may occur

when electrical wiring are substandard and not being separated from the other or also

known as octopus wiring. Furthermore, some causes of fire incident are unattended
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candles, lamps, unattended or neglected charging of phone. According to Achard,

Mollicone, & Beuchle (2008) there are many factors that can contribute to the occurrence

and proliferation of fires, such as weather /climate fuels, ignition agents and human

factors. However, to prevent this kind of hazard the participants 3 stated that building or

house permit must be secured so that electrical wiring will be checked so that fire

occurrence will be prevented. More so, the BFP has also Oplan Ligtas Pamayanan

Program in order to reach community in every Barangay of Tangub City to give fire

safety tips for the prevention of fire occurrence.

Intervention Plan

PROPOSED INTERVENTION PLAN

Governor Alfonso D Tan College

Maloro, Tangub City

PROPOSED OUTPUT

This presents the research program designed for the Prevention, Mitigation and

safety measure of possible fire incident that may occur in Tangub City, Misamis

Occidental.
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I. Program Title: Symposium and Educational Campaign on the

Prevention Mitigation and Safety Measure on possible Fire

Hazard-in Supporting Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan

II. Program Description:

This program designed by the researchers was based on the findings of the study.

The researchers suggest to conduct Symposium and Educational in every barangay in

Tangub City, in relation to the Prevention Mitigation and Safety Measure in order to

achieve a safer community against the treat of fire disaster.

III. Rationale:

Symposium and Educational Campaign on Prevention Mitigation and Safety

Measure of possible Fire Disaster was based on the outcomes of the study “Causes of

Fire Incident.

This Program may help residents in preparation if fire disaster that may occur, prevention

of possible fire hazard and mitigation if there are fire incident that would arise. This

program may help residents of Tangub City Misamis Occidental to improve their ways of

living.

IV. Implementation Scheme:

The program is divided into three (3) phases. Phase 1 is the preparation phase

wherein approaching the school president and also the different department heads to

deliberate the endorsed program for the implementation. Phase 2 is the implementation
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phase wherein the recognized program was put into action. Phase 3 is the evaluation

phase wherein the participants are evaluated using the evaluation form.

The program divided into three (3) classifications namely;

PHASE I PHASE II PHASE III

PREPARATION EVALUATION
PHASE IMPLEMENTATION
PHASE
1.Planning and crafting of PHASE
program and projects. 1. Evaluation and
Implementation of Symposium
Monitoring.
2.Identifying of the target and Educational Campaign on
areas and people the Prevention Mitigation and
Safety Measure on possible Fire
3.Identifying and Disaster
allocating resources Symposium and Educational
Campaign on Prevention
4.The indorsed program Mitigation And Safety Measure
will be deliberated to the on possible Fire Disaster
Barangay Officials

Figure 2. Phase of Implementation Scheme of Symposium and Educational

Campaign on the Prevention Mitigation and safety Measure of Possible Fire Hazard to

the residents in every Barangay of Tangub City, Misamis Occidental. These Community

Extension programs are divided into three (3) parts: The preparation phase,

implementation phase, and evaluation phase.

In-preparation phase program, the endorsed program will be deliberated to the

residents by Brgy. Officials for the acknowledged Symposium and Educational

Campaign on the Prevention Mitigation and Safety Measure of possible Fire Disaster.
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On implementation phase program, this would be the application of the

Symposium and Educational Campaign program to the residents of every Barangays in

Tangub City, Misamis Occidental.

In-evaluation phase program, this would be the evaluation of the Symposium and

Educational Campaign which the effectiveness evaluation for the result that was

gathered.

Conclusion

From the result of the gathered data, the researchers draw the conclusion that the

factors that were considered to be most common causes of fire incident are faulty

electrical wiring, neglected and unattended gadget while charging, illegal tapping or

series connection that cause short circuit, octopus and substandard wiring. Fire Hazard

area are the most common concern to be priority by the program implementers (BFP) in

collaboration of MOELCI Tangub City in conducting symposium and educational

campaign. However, in order to prevent and mitigate fire incident and to have safety

measure during fire incident the researchers draw the conclusion that symposium and

educational campaign on the prevention mitigation and safety measure must be

implemented. Furthermore, random inspection in every building, houses squatter or fire

hazard areas are priority to be inspected annually.

Recommendation (General rani ha)

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Based on the result, findings and conclusion, researchers suggest the following

recommendation.

1. The BFP and MOELCI must conduct inspection annually in every buildings,

department store, warehouse, squatter or fire hazard areas.

2. The BFP and MOELCI will strictly prohibit to operate those buildings,

department store and warehouse if the owner cannot comply building permit.

3. The BFP and MOELCI should conduct Symposium and Educational Campaign

on Prevention Mitigation and Safety Measure in supporting Oplan Ligtas na

Pamayanan Program of BFP to reach every community on their respected area

giving fire safety tips for the prevention on fire occurrence.

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REFERENCES

Achard, Eva, Mollicone & Beauchle (2008) The Effect of Climate Anomalies and Human
Igbition factor in Wildfires in Russian Boreal Forest
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5841427_The_effect_of_climate_anomalies_an
d_human_ignition_factor_on_wildfires_in_Russian_boreal_forests

Bhandari, P (2020) Journals A-Z Article Citation

https://www.scirp.org/(S(lz5mqp453edsnp55rrgjct55.))/reference/referencespapers.aspx?
referenceid=3087568
Caliwan (2022) https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168780?fbclid=IwAR0AnRXzBK-
WlXO2WvA2ah1Xd0_kH1E3JjGEsFV4KGMl1ngATZ27o569RAk

Fire Code of the Philippines R.A No. 9514

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2008/12/19/republic-act-no-9514/

HEMS (2012) Epedemiological Assesment of Fires in the Philippines 2010-2012

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/126941/1/pidsdps1335.pdf

Marquez (2019) Fire Safety Management Strategy: A Measure of Fire Safeguard System
Rendered by Personnel of Bureau of Fire Protection
https://www.scribd.com/document/503655414/Bfp-Case-Study?
fbclid=IwAR2D_vpJYC_sgUKB85I8WYoFt7N7Jtgwsc0BMJYYeYuTq3TI2jJPJ-9RjD0

Steinger, Greene, & Feiner (2022) Five Leading Causes of House Fires
https://www.injurylawyers.com/blog/5-leading-causes-of-house-fires/

Wong et, Al (2014) Fire Safety Management Strategy: A Measure of Fire Safeguard
System Rendered by Personnel of Bureau of Fire Protection
https://www.scribd.com/document/503655414/Bfp-Case-Study?
fbclid=IwAR2D_vpJYC_sgUKB85I8WYoFt7N7Jtgwsc0BMJYYeYuTq3TI2jJPJ-9RjD0