NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 25 April) – The spiking temperature which has reached recently to as high as 45 – 48 Celsius has caused auto-ignition in places where kindling temperature of materials have gone so low, such as grass and other light substances.
Expect, therefore, wildfires as temperature is intensified by El Niño. What you see nowadays at roadsides in many locations in Mindanao are no longer green but brown and black grasslands or smoky mountains.
Many mountain tourist destinations are ruined by grassfires. For instance, the Communal Ranch in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon famous for its striking mountainous backdrop was ravaged last week by grassfires. What was once verdant and beautiful are now black and ugly rolling hills. The same thing happened to the panoramic hills in Libona’s Vista West Cafe, also in Bukidnon.
The burning of 19 cars at a parking lot in NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila) has no other explanation but the spontaneous combustion of the grass in said lot. Airports across the archipelago ought to learn a lesson from the NAIA experience. The grassland in airport runways and parking areas should be cut, cuttings safely stowed away, and the ground frequently wetted, to avoid auto-ignition accidents.
Auto-ignition may also occur in residential areas. In blighted places, illegal and unsafe power connections are rampant. When attached to many electric fans to ward off or neutralize the heat, the lines may overload, burn, and explode. This is frequently the cause of fires in blighted communities.
Fires are difficult to control in highly congested communities because they are fueled by light and highly combustible building materials. Moreover, their access to firefighters is nearly impossible. Thus, fires in these places simply rage and sizzle down only when everything in their path is consumed.
Water is needed to control fires. Unfortunately in this scorching heat, water is a scarce commodity. So it is not remote that, in this infernal season, fires may rage here and there at their gusto.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)
