ILOILO CITY, April 10 (PNA)– Some four hectares of forest land has been wiped out by fire in Barangay Nabaoy, Malay, Aklan.
FO3 Franklin Arobang of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Boracay said a certain Catherine Fulgencio has called up their office about a fire in progress early Tuesday afternoon atop the mountain area in the barangay.
They immediately sought assistance from the nearby fire station in Ibajay, Aklan which immediately dispatched firefighters from TransAire Fire Rescue who helped in putting out the fire.
Arobang said it took the responding firefighters four hours to put out the blaze considering that the scene is located some 500 meters away atop the mountain area from the barangay road, and firefighters had to lay out their fire hoses via a narrow trail before they could reach the area to battle the blaze.
Arobang said municipal employees and barangay volunteers in Malay likewise formed a ‘bucket brigade’ and joined the fray dousing off pail of water to help firefighters extinguish the forest fire.
Meanwhile, the BFP-Boracay under Inspector Joseph R. Cadag, which has the jurisdiction over the fire station in mainland Malay, believed the forest fire might have been caused by a lighted cigarette butt thrown by some careless individual in the area.
Arobang said scores of trees that include gmelina, mahogany and several other species have been burned.
The BFP-Boracay has yet to determine the damage as they are presently investigating the fire incident.(PNA)
JBP/AJP/VLORQUIOLA