TO spread fire safety awareness this Yuletide season, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 7 conducted its first-ever fire truck decoration contest.
Senior Supt. Samuel Tadeo, BFP 7 director, said the activity aims to promote proper ways to use Christmas decorations to avoid fires.
“Ibayong pag-iingat ang kailangan at tsaka huwag silang gumamit ng substandard Christmas lights at overloaded na electric switch (We should always be careful and avoid using substandard Christmas lights and overloaded switch),” he said in a GMA 7 Balitang Bisdak report.
During the launching of the contest last Monday, 13 fire trucks paraded on the streets of Cebu, with colorful Christmas lights and festive decors.
One of the fire trucks has a real life-sized Santa Claus on top of reindeer, while others have recycled plastic bottles with silver dust that attracted many residents who watched on the streets.
The contest was the first one that the BFP organized in Cebu.
Engine 193 of the Cebu City Fire Station won the contest, besting 12 other fire stations.
Winners
It was followed by the Minglanilla Fire Station and Liloan Fire Station landed in third place.
The contest was participated in by all the fire stations in Cebu City and Cebu Province, which was warmly welcomed by most Cebuanos.
Theo Lim, Facebook user, posted a comment that the event, which was uploaded on the social media, reminded him of Christmas.
“For the first time, abot sa dunggan akong smile nga nakadungog sa siren sa bombero, dili tungod kay naay sunog pero gipa-feel nila nato ang spirit sa Christmas (For the first time, I smiled while hearing the fire trucks’ siren not because there was a fire but because they let us feel the spirit of Christmas),” he said in his FB post.
As of yesterday, the video has 28,000 views and has been liked for 2,300 times on Facebook.
Another person likened the spectacle to a Disney show and congratulated the firefighters for a job well done.
“Abi nako og (I thought it was a) Disney Paint the Night Parade at first glance. Good job!” she commented.