In Mandaue City, fire marshal warns vs. selling firecrackers

CEBU, Philippines - Selling firecrackers in the city is illegal, the local Bureau of Fire Protection said.

City Fire Marshal Fire/Chief Inspector Ronaldo Orbeta said his office has not issued any clearance to any applicant, which means selling any firecracker in the city is illegal.

He said his office will coordinate with the police for the confiscation of these items.

Under Republic Act 9614 or the Fire Code of the Philippines, the Bureau of Fire Protection is tasked to issue clearances to anyone who wishes to sell firecrackers.

Orbeta said the selling of firecracker must be in an area designated by the local government and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Only areas far from the residential and commercial areas should be designated as display center and must be equipped with fire extinguishers or drums filled with water and declared strictly a no-smoking zone.

However, Orbeta said his office has issued clearances to sell firecrackers in the malls to two companies.

Meanwhile, fire personnel conduct a daily campaign, from 7 pm to 9pm, on the safety measures in the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnics, concentrating in areas which are heavily populated and considered as fire prone areas.

These include, among others, the north bus terminal, mall areas, Pulang Bukid, Paknaan, Sitio Sapa-Sapa in Guizo, the area near the Barangay Hall in Opao, in front of Iglesia ni Cristo in Bakilid, Cambaro, Fatima-Basak area.

Aside from distribution leaflets, fire personnel will also deploy their two fire trucks with a public address system.

“We don’t want a repeat of the 2011 incident wherein a fire occurred in the display center killing some of the vendors,” Orbeta said.

Orbeta said he has put on alert status all personnel and fire trucks.

The city has four fire trucks, another one with aerial ladder, one boom truck, and one water tanker.

The latest fire truck is the brand new P23-million Rosen Bauer purchased from Austria with high and low pressure pump, with a capacity of 50 gallons per minute and contains rescue equipment, among others. — MNS (FREEMAN)