Fire department undermanned but never outfought

CEBU’S BEST: Members of the fire-fighting force of the Cebu City Fire Station demonstrate the capabilities of its world-class Rosenbauer TLF 4000 fire truck which the Bureau of Fire Protection under Chief Supt. Carlito Romero delivered to key local government last year. Cebu City and Mandaue City were among the cities that were chosen as the initial recipients of the Australian-made fire trucks. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

The primary mandate of the DILG’s Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) – as its name says – is to protect life and property from fires.

But even before the agency’s creation in December 1990 by virtue of Republic Act 6975, the state’s fire-fighting force is outnumbered by the number of civilian volunteers who at times are better equipped.

Senior Supt. Ma. Luisa Hadjula, regional director of the BFP, said that although they lack manpower and equipment, they are always ready to do all they can to carry out their primary mandate.

She said the lack of personnel is “a perennial problem” in the agency. She earlier admitted that the the BFP lacks fire trucks and fire-fighting equipment.

Hadjula  said there are only 152 operational fire trucks in Central Visayas. The Cebu City Fire Station has 15, but  three are under repair.

Because of the lack of manpower, the BFP has been intensifying its recruitment of fire officers.

“In fact from 2013 until March 2014, we have recruited a little over 200 fire personnel, good enough to cope up with the shortage of personnel that we are experiencing,” she said.

SFO4 Ashley Lee, who is assigned at the BFP Central Fire Station in Parian,  said an ideal fire crew is composed of seven firefighters, but with lack of manpower, they make-do with only six per fire truck. “If we have enough personnel, then there will be a faster response and some can secure the area within the vicinity of the alarm,” Lee said.

Apart from the regular recruitment , the BFP have also been training volunteers who are then organized to serve as barangay-based fire brigades.

Some of the volunteers are professionals, in college or high school level, as well as ordinary citizens in the barangay who are not receiving monthly salaries but are receiving allowances.

“They will serve as our force multiplier and our front-runner in every barangay,” she said.

Hadjula  added that they have been implementing  mandatory training and establishment of fire brigades in commercial and business establishments.

Training institute

The regional fire marshal said she is drafting a proposal to BFP director, Chief Supt. Carlito Romero, for the establishment of a branch of the Fire National Training Institute (FNTI) in Cebu where recruits from the Visayas and as far as Mindanao will undergo with their training.

At present, recruits are taken to the FNTI in Canlubang, Laguna for training and qualification.

“Having a fire institute in Cebu is one of my priority programs as the regional director. I am drafting a proposal that there must be an activated extension of FNTI in Cebu,” she told CDN.

“Cebu is a very strategic location compared to the one in Luzon,” she said.