By Chito Chavez With the spate of fire incidents that occurred in the city these past months, the Quezon City Office of Building Official (OBO) was asked to accurately determine if the schools, dormitories, universities, commercial establishments and similar structures have complied with standard safety regulations. In the aftermath of the recent fire incidents in the city, Councilor Victor Ferrer Jr. and Eufemio Lagumbay stressed that the city government and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) should leave no stones unturned in ensuring that all structures in the city are not fire hazards. The councilors were alarmed that there could be an increase in fire incidents in the city with the temperature in the metropolis reaching nearly 40 degrees Celsius. Lagumbay said the fire bureau and the OBO should vigorously conduct regular inspections to give building administrators adequate time to comply with the fire safety requirements especially this summer. “It is important for establishment owners to immediately correct the deficiencies that may be discovered by the inspection teams. They should do their jobs especially during the summer vacation,” Lagumbay said. Ferrer reminded the city building official personnel to strictly check establishments especially gasoline depot and factories storing highly flammable materials like foam, tires, rubber and similar materials. “Any structure or establishment without the mandatory fire safety requirements and in clear violation of the Fire Code of the Philippines and the authority of the BFP must be charged in the proper court.” Ferrer said. Common fire safety violations include the no secondary exit; no wet standpipe system; no standard fire exit or fire doors are not provided with self-closing mechanism; no extension of fire escape to ground floor or corridors, walls, ceiling and openings are of light wooden materials; defective manual fire alarm; no smoke and heat detector; and inadequate battery operated emergency light. He also asked the city’s building official personnel to ensure that the establishments they are inspecting have adequate and fully functioning fire exits, fire alarms, smoke detectors and other fire safety equipment and facilities. “The smallest fire safety code violation should be remedied to ensure that the lives of the people are not in peril,” he noted.