Villages advised to get own fire trucks

ONLY three of 27 barangays in Mandaue City own a fire truck, prompting an official to urge more barangays, as first responders to emergencies, to acquire one.

SFO3 Sherwin Porcia, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Mandaue City fire safety enforcement section, also encouraged barangay officials to form a firefighting team.

Interviewed separately, BFP Central Visayas Director Maria Luisa Hadjula said the bureau plans to include the barangays in their fire prevention campaign this year.

Barangays, she added, play an important role because they can easily spread fire prevention tips in their communities.

As part of the Fire Prevention Month celebration, Mandaue and Talisay were among the six cities in Central Visayas that received a fire truck from the BFP and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Two groups, including a fire department from Canada, also donated firefighting equipment to the Talisay City Government.

In Mandaue’s case, Porcia said the new fire truck is a great help since the City’s four existing fire trucks, which were procured in the 1960s and 1980s, are no longer enough for its growing population.

Out of 27 barangays in Mandaue, only three have a fire truck: Tipolo, Paknaan and Opao.

“We encourage barangay captains to procure a fire truck, or at least a mini-tanker, since barangays are usually the first responders to fire,” Porcia said in a press conference.

The BFP-Mandaue recorded 20 major fires last year.

Porcia said three more substations need to be put up in strategic locations in Mandaue. The ideal locations for these substations are Barangays Subangdaku, Banilad and Cabancalan.

Barangay Tipolo has its own fire substation, while the City’s Action Emergency and Rescue Team has a substation in Barangay Basak.

Aside from Mandaue and Talisay, the other Central Visayas cities that also received fire trucks recently are Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Tanjay and Bayawan.

The fire trucks were given to the local governments last March 1.

But aside from the fire trucks, the Talisay City Government also received donations of
firefighting gear from the Wetaskiwia Fire Station in Alberta, Canada.

The equipment was formally turned over to the Talisay City Government last month, with Simoun Canton III representing the Wetaskiwia Fire Station.

The station gave Talisay City 10 firefighting helmets, eight visors, three pairs of fire boots, five bonnets, 11 pairs of fire gloves, and four fire coats.

Talisay City Vice Mayor Alan Bucao, who chairs the committee on public order, safety traffic management and public utilities, has proposed a resolution to thank the Wetaskiwia Fire Station for their support.

“The kind and generous act was timely as the City of Talisay Fire Station is in dire need to augment its firefighting gear to protect firefighters,” said Bucao.

This year’s Fire Prevention Month focuses on fire prevention, disaster preparedness, and conservation of the environment.

As part of their activities this month, the BFP-Mandaue will hold the Barangay Fire Olympics on March 23.

Seven barangays will participate in the competition, which will be held in the Mandaue Reclamation Area from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Each barangay will have a team composed of 10 members, who will be trained in firefighting two days before the event.

The participating barangays are Looc, Canduman, Paknaan, Cambaro, Subangdaku, Banilad and Opao.