Benguet blaze still raging, no damage estimate yet: OCD

The Office of the Civil Defense, or OCD, said Saturday it has yet to determine the extent of damage after forest fires raged in the mountains of Benguet province.

Edgar Posadas, OCD spokesperson, said authorities are still focusing on the containment of fires in the affected areas.

“We don’t have data as of yet, but hopefully in the coming days we will release… because we concentrate on responding and putting out the fires,” Posadas noted.

Authorities previously reported that the wildfire, which started on 26 January, has heavily affected 12 hectares of the forested area in Itogon, Benguet.

The Philippine Air Force, utilizing its two Super Huey helicopters, has augmented the Bureau of Fire Protection and other authorities in responding to the fire.

Posadas said 14 areas were declared “fire out” while four were under control since the wildfire broke out.

“There are still two areas that we are monitoring so it will not spread further,” he added.

The Cordillera Administrative Region recently experienced eight forest fires, including the situation in the town of Tuba, wherein a forest fire razed a portion of Mount Santo Tomas, with the massive blaze almost reaching vital installations with communications, TV, and radio equipment.

The forest fire eventually reached the neighboring municipalities of Bokod and Baguio City, affecting 60 hectares as of this writing.