TWO modern fire trucks for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Davao Fire District were presented during the flag ceremony at the Davao City Hall on Monday, July 2.
Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag thanked BFP national headquarters for the new Rosenbauer fire trucks.
“This is a positive development. We have been requesting the national government to modernize the fire protection in Davao City but apparently before, there was a slow response in our request but we are glad that with the administration of President Duterte, it was granted speedily,” Al-ag told the media.
He lauded the current administration modernization of the BFP. Al-ag hopes that in the next few years, more advanced fire trucks will arrive to replace the outdated fire trucks of the BFP.
Al-ag recalled an instance when he was a councilor in the third district when a fire truck overheated while on its way to responding to a fire incident.
He also said the City Government of Davao will purchase two state-of-the-art aerial ladder fire trucks worth P120 million for the Central 911 to provide efficient disaster response for Dabawenyos as part of the Davao City Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund Investment Plan (LDRRMFIP). These fire trucks are designed for medium to high-rise building fire incidents.
“The trend now is high rise building and we need to be ready as the private sector is very aggressive in developing the city in their investment, we also need to respond to their need,” he said.
In a separate interview, Fire Senior Superintendent Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu said that six Rosenbauer fire trucks that were given to Davao Region. Davao City got two, and Panabo City, Nabunturan, Island Garden City of Samal, and Malita got one each.
“This is top of the line fire truck that can sustain continuous fire operation for at least three days walang patayan for as long as may tubig siya at may fuel siya kayang kaya niya. It can provide at least six to eight fire lines," he said.
It is equipped with personal protective equipment for the firemen, blitz attack capacity, forcible entry tools, and among others.
Kwan Tiu, however, said they will yet discuss with Davao City Fire District as well as the City Government on the deployment of the new fire trucks, adding that it would be sent to strategic areas where fire incidents are prevalent.
Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Ramil Gillado, chief of BFP Davao City Investigation and Intelligence Section, said they recorded from January to June 2018 225 fire incidents, which is higher as compared to the fire incidents in the previous year with 172 incidents.
However, the first half 2017 fire incidents registered more damage amounting to P619,251,995 because of fires in big establishments, that included the fire in Lapanday when communist rebels attacked Lapanday's two box plants in Mandug. Todate, damage caused by fire for 2018 only reached P81,093,050.
The top three causes of the 2017 and 2018 fire incidents are electrical (short circuit, electrical Arcing due to loss connection, overheated electrical appliance), open flame (unattended cooking, child playing matches/lighter, burning of garbage) and improper disposal of lighted cigarette butts.