Lawmaker says 645 towns don't have fire stations

MANILA, Philippines - Some 645 towns all over the country do not have fire stations, fire trucks, fire-fighting equipment and crew, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said yesterday.

He said 666 other municipalities are using old and dilapidated fire trucks that break down when responding to fire emergencies.

“This could be the reason why there are around 800 to 900 fire incidents every month as per records of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP),” he said.

“Fire incidents result in loss of lives and properties, which could be prevented if we have firefighters and they have the proper equipment,” he said.

“In areas where we have firefighters, they have to make do with old and unreliable safety equipment, which put their lives at an even greater risk and put the lives of the victims in greater danger,” he added.

Rodriguez and his brother Maximo, who represents the party-list group Abante Mindanao, have filed Resolution 2250, which urges the House of Representatives to look into why more than 600 towns still do not have fire stations, while more than 600 others are content with old fire trucks and equipment.

They said the House should find out if the concerned local government units (LGUs) and the Bureau of Fire Protevtion (BFP) do not have enough funds to establish a fire-fighting force or upgrading existing equipment.

They noted that LGUs have their internal revenue allotments, which they can use to put up even small fire stations.

They suggested that if the LGUs and the BFP don’t have the funds, the House could help them with financial assistance that it can include in the national budget.

The Rodriguez brothers pointed out that the ideal situation is that each town should have its own fire station.

But if funds are lacking, towns could be clustered and each cluster of two or three municipalities could share a common fire-fighting force with the necessary equipment, they said.

At the same time, they urged the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the BFP to expedite their plan to acquire more fire trucks. The plan has encountered rough sailing when allegations were made about bidding irregularities.   

BFP-NCR intensifies fire prevention campaign

Meanwhile, the BFP National Capital Region (NCR) is intensifying its fire prevention education program.

The education campaign is now focused on large residential areas after noting that a huge percentage of fire incidents happened in Metro Manila’s depressed communities.

In line with its education drive, the BFP-NCR recently held a fire drill at a large depressed community in Valenzuela City.

In a report to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Valenzuela City Fire Marshal Superintendent Mel Jose Lagan said that the fire drill held in Barangay Paso de Blas was the first activity done in an an informal settlers’ community.

Statistics from BFP-NCR showed that 213 fire incidents occurred in Metro Manila from Jan. 1 to Feb. 29, 2012.

“We want to educate residents in poor communities whose adjoining houses are usually made of materials such as plywood, old wood and cardboard that easily catch fire; what to do in case of fire and how to prevent fire incidents,” Lagan said.

Prior to the drill, Lagan appointed incident commander, Bantay Sunog responders, evacuation route guides, evacuation area commander and posts in-charge, alarm and communication in-charge, first aiders and rescuers among the community leaders and other concerned groups.

Lagan said after the drill, firefighters coordinated with the Bantay-Sunog volunteers in gathering important data needed in dealing with fire incidents, such as the number of barangay residents, the identification and number of exit routes and the number of houses in the barangay.

According to Lagan, Valenzuela City Bantay-Sunog volunteer groups who are stationed city-wide and have already been trained on firefighting using fire extinguishers by the local BFP, now have 1,288 members and 87 area leaders in 21 barangays in the city.

In 2009, around 200 families were left homeless when a fire razed rows of houses in Malanday in Valenzuela as firefighters had a hard time entering the narrow streets in the area.

“We do not want a repeat of the Malanday fire incident. This is why we are preparing the Bantay Sunog volunteers and the whole community so that they will be better prepared and equipped in case a similar fire incident occurs in the future,” Lagan said. – With Mike Frialde