Bennett: Fires and volunteers

THE other week, I noticed how the sirens of the fire trucks from the Sunshine Supermart compound along Legarda Road raised the alarm of a fire as the twin fire truck and water tank truck disappeared down the City Camp Road.

Of course, one gets worried because the direction they took was close to home.

Click here for Election 2010 updates

Within the same half hour, the fire truck and water tanker reappeared from the City Camp Road and one could just sigh with relief. It must have been a small fire or it must have been a false alarm.

I uncannily found out that the fire was a bush fire and was put out even before the fire truck appeared. It was indeed close to home, this bush behind our house below the Dominican Monastery.

But that is not the point.

It was the second alarm of the day and one realized that the dry spell is truly a time when fires abound to the detriment of the population, particularly when lives and property are at stake. When people are compromised, then it is time to wear the fire suit and scamper to secure life and property.

The funny part of the Sunshine Fire Brigade is that they are your friendly baggage counter assistants and merchandizers of the Sunshine Supermart.

Often, the Public Address system of the Sunshine Supermart merely pages, “Volunteers to the side exit please.” In the same breath, all the cashiers lose the baggage assistants who half run to the Kayang extension area, sometimes in single file or to the point of getting run over. They change into their fire suits generously solicited by American based Filipinos and patiently repaired here to protect the local volunteers.

There are almost 80 volunteers from the Sunshine Supermart who were trained and certified by the Camp John Hay Fire Station personnel. Of course, these volunteers are trained by American trained firefighters who used to respond to the city distress calls too.

It is a great relief to know that there are more people and trucks to serve the growing population and all because of the adrenalin rush in the good thought that you are saving lives and helping people.

Some cashiers are wont to complain, someone said that when the PA system calls for volunteers, the boys take double steps to reach the fire trucks. But when the PA system calls for the baggage counter assistants, the foot drags into almost slow motion.

History says that the Sunshine Fire Brigade was inspired by a call for help years back that threatened to raze the Sunshine warehouse to the ground. It was then that Junior realized that the fire station was undermanned to answer emergencies, particularly when there are two fires going on.

As Camp John Hay has reduced its force to a skeleton camp fire station, the response may not be as quick and systematic as when the Americans were operating the former US base. It was then that Junior thought to give something to the community, a volunteer fire brigade.

To have the Sunshine Fire Brigade as a consolation to the augmentation of the fire station personnel and equipment, one can nod the head and say, we can rest assured that there will be people to help us in those times of need.

Congratulations to the Sunshine Fire Brigade, you tell me to keep on volunteering because you show me that my services are needed to augment the government.