TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Garbage burning in this city has caused the destruction of a 10 hectare grassland that needed more than two hours to put off.
That is what exactly happened in Sitio Basao in barangay Dilag here on Thursday evening as firemen from the Tabuk City Fire Station scampered to said area to stop the bush fire which was already threatening homes near the grassland.
In a report, the Public Information Office – Tabuk said Senior Inspector Ronald Rivera, Acting City Fire Marshal, suspected the cause of the fire was one of the residents attempted to burn their trash, but due to strong winds, the embers were scattered and some landed around the dried leaves on the grassland.
“As per our initial investigation, there are persons who were burning their rubbish near the area. Then the wind started blowing hard and the embers were scattered, some of which landed in the dry leaves of the grassland which instantly burned. The fire spread and were threatening the houses nearby so we immediately try to put it out,” he said in a mix of Iloco and English.
The grassland that was burned is a 10 hectare-wide government reservation.
Fortunately, only grass had been burned down, said Rivera, but they are conducting a second investigation to identify the extent of the fire and the estimated amount of damages because it was very dark after they put out the fire.
To avoid the fire to start anew, Rivera detailed some of his firemen in the area.
He then pleaded for the cooperation of the public not to burn their trash since it is against the law. He added that any burning must be be contained to avoid its spread.
He also told residents that they should take care of their household appliances and not overload the electric sockets in their homes and extension wires.
He also asked the stop of “kaingin” practice or burning down of forests and mountains for agricultural purposes since they also responded to two fire incidents at the nearby Sitio Callagdao recently.
“We can see that these trees are growing but they are burned down,” he said.
