Mandaue needs at least 8 more fire sub-stations

CEBU, Philippines — The Mandaue City Fire Station is in need of at least eight to ten fire substations for immediate response to fire incidents in the city.

Chief Inspector Arnel Abella, the city fire marshall, said that if resources are sufficient, it is best to put an ample amount of fire stations to shorten the response during fire incidents.

Mandaue City currently has three fire substations, with a ratio observed of one fire truck catering to at least 2,000 individuals.

Abella said that considering that Mandaue City has more or less 300,000 populations, putting up at least eight to ten fire sub-stations divided per cluster would be ideal.

Despite that, Abella lauded the initiative of the city's barangays having their own fire trucks and volunteers as a tremendous help in regulating fire incidents quickly.

Based on the data of the Mandaue City Fire Station, the city recorded at least 25 fire incidents in 2022.

One of the biggest fire incidents recorded in the city was the fire that broke out in Barangay Looc in December, which affected around 600 families with an estimated P1.2 million worth of damages to properties.

Abella said some of their interventions are by conducting house-to-house inspections and information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns to increase public awareness when dealing with fire incidents, particularly in the city's identified fire hazard zones.

Among the identified fire prone barangays are Banilad, Basak, Cabangcalan, Cambaro, Canduman, Casuntingan, Centro, Cubacub, Guizo, Ibabao-Estancia, Jagobiao, Labogon, Looc, Maguikay, Mantuyong, Opao, Pagsabungan, Paknaan, Subangdaku, and Tabok, among others.

He added that they also conduct regular inspections of the city's fire hydrants to identify those areas with non-operational, low-pressure, and high-pressure hydrants.

He also shared that they coordinate with some big industrial companies with big hydrants and tap the local government's attention to get an extra amount of water in case of big fire calamities. (FREEMAN)