Belmonte orders BFP: Identify QC fire traps

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. ordered yesterday the city’s Bureau of Fire Protection to pinpoint all fire traps in the city and prepare contingency measures to prevent fires and safeguard lives and property.

In his directive, Belmonte ordered Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) officer-in-charge Chief Inspector Oscar Villegas to coordinate with the Barangay Operations Center (BOC), the Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS), the Public Affairs and Information Services Office (PAISO) and the Radio Communications Center in the fire prevention effort.

In his report to Belmonte, Seno said the BOC has already identified 554 depressed areas in the city as fire trap zones, adding his office has been coordinating with the BFP for the holding of fire drills in those areas.

Belmonte said the contingency measures include the construction of water pipelines in areas considered as fire trap zones – crowded neighborhoods that could hardly be penetrated by firetrucks during fires due to narrow streets.

This is to prevent the occurrence of another fire like that which hit the Gana compound in Balintawak, Quezon City, rendering hundreds of vendor families homeless. The firefighters had difficulty in battling the blaze as their firetrucks could not get near the fire because of the narrow streets.

These water pipelines, the mayor said, could be used as fire hydrants by firetrucks in battling fires in those areas.

Belmonte added that the water pipelines could also provide sufficient water supply to the residents during water shortage or long dry spells in summer or drought brought by El Niño.

The mayor said the measure is very timely, considering that a long dry spell is expected to hit the country starting July.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Peace and Order Council (QCPOC) has been chosen by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) as the best Peace and Order Council in Metro Manila.

Belmonte will personally receive the award from Napolcom Commissioner Emilio Salumbides during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony at the Quezon City Hall lobby.