A grassfire observed in the southwest portion of Taal Volcano Island since Tuesday morning ended after nearly 22 hours on Wednesday morning, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) CALABARZON officially declared fire-out at 9:05 a.m. on Wednesday.
Representatives from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), BFP, and the municipal disaster risk reduction offices of San Nicolas and Agoncillo, Batangas, have since responded to the situation.
Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division chief Mariton Bornas said in a DOSTv report that the cause of the grassfire is likely human activities but added it remains under investigation by the BFP, PCG, and municipal disaster risk reduction councils.
According to Phivolcs, the fire was first recorded at 11:24 a.m. on Tuesday by the Binintiang Munti Observation Station’s IP camera, as well as another camera at its station in Agoncillo, Batangas.
Despite the incident, the state seismology bureau maintains Alert Level 1 over Taal Volcano, indicating low-level unrest.
It added that the Binintiang Munti station was impacted by similar incidents before, including fires on March 3, 2023, and May 2, 2024, which were caused by kindling.