Zamboanga City District Fire Marshall FSupt. Jhufel Brañanola Monday warned business establishments operating with expired fire safety inspection certificates (FSIC) in the city.

This, as Brañanola reported a very low turnout of applicants for fie inspection for the year 2019 with only 3,046 certificates issued out of the over 11,000 target certificates as of mid-June.

One reason, he said, applicants who were issued with business permits during the implementation of the Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) last January have disregarded the processing of their FSIC applications.

“If they will not renew their fire safety inspection certificates within the year then they will find hard time in renewing their business permits in January because we will include their business establishments in the negative list,” Brañanola warned.

He stressed that the FSIC is very essential for business establishments as it is stipulated in the law and helps ensure public safety.

Meanwhile, the fire marshal said investigation of the fire incident at the Buner Appliance Center in Gov. Lim Avenue last week is still ongoing to determine the real cause of the conflagration.

Damage during the incident is estimated to have reached P3.6M.

On the other hand, joint inspection of buildings with similar items or stocks as those stored at the Buner Appliance Center commenced Monday, June 17. Personnel from the BFP, Business Permits and Licensing Division, City Engineer and other agencies jointly conduct the inspection, intended to prevent a repletion of the Buner fire incident, according to Brañanola. (Sheila Covarrubias)