Lapu-Lapu City needs more firemen

CEBU, Philippines - Lapu-Lapu City enjoys an ample number of fire trucks to respond to fire alarms but lacks firemen.

Oscar Mayol, chief of the city's Bureau of Fire Protection, said under the current setup, the ratio of firefighters to fire trucks is at three to one. This is way far from the required ratio of 14 to one. BFP-Lapu-Lapu City hosts 69 regular staff and 22 job order workers assigned in different substations. It has a total of 14 operational fire trucks distributed to five fire substations.

To address manpower issues, the Lapu-Lapu City government said it is willing to deploy additional job order personnel to work for the city's BFP. "We're looking into this nga madugangan atong tawo sa fire department kay JO (job order workers) ra man ang gibutang didto," Radaza told reporters yesterday.

With the country observing Fire Prevention Month this March, Radaza has reminded fire responders to be always on the guard for sudden fire alarms. "Kinahanglan always ready gyud mo to respond and dapat atong mga fire trucks aduna'y pundo daan nga tubig aron sa panahon nga naa'y kalit nga sunog, dali dayon ta makarespondi," the mayor said.

The executive also said the public should not limit the observance of Fire Prevention Month to March alone.

In 2013, around 40 fire alarms were recorded in the city with total damages to properties pegged at P3.59 million. Last year, the number of fire incidents dwindled to 35, as did damages which were estimated at P1.025 million. — Christell Fatima M. Tudtud (FREEMAN)