Manila, April 3 -- Fire incidents in this highly urbanized city has decreased by 160 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2024.

Data from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on Thursday showed that from January to March this year, only 42 fires were reported, from the 109 reported in the previous year.

Damage due to fires was also lower in the first quarter of 2025, amounting to only PHP1.685 million compared to the previous year's PHP22.852 million.

Fire Officer 2 Paul Servano, public information chief of Bacolod City Fire Station, said the extremely hot weather in the early months of 2024 contributed to the occurrence of more fires.

"Due to the El Nino, there were that much fire incidents in the fi...