The Bureau of Fire Protection- National Capital Region (BFP- NCR) said they recorded 819 fires in Metro Manila last May, which is higher compared to the same period last year.

“The last day of May coincides with the end of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) in the Metro. The month saw a total of 819 fires, this is 43.4 percent higher compared to the 571 fires of May last year,” BFP said in its statistical report last Friday.

The BFP said there is a 7.6 percent decrease in structural fires between the 91 fires in May 2019 and 84 fires in May 2020.

It said 61 of the total fire incidents are residential.

“The top three causes of fire are electrical ignition by arcing, electrical post fire, and electrical ignition caused by overloading,” BFP said.

Quezon City, Valenzuela City and Manila had the highest fire incidents with 258, 142, and 97, respectively.

“On the brighter side, San Juan City is the lone city that had zero fire incidents while Pateros and Las Piñas City both had only one fire last month,” BFP said.

From January to May, BFP-NCR recorded 2, 494 fires. Out of the total, structural fires were 605, 471 were residential, and 1, 889 non-structural fires. Ella Dionisio/DMS