Mandaue fire chief: Only a dozen barangays in city have fire brigades

The best fire brigades in the city are recognized on Thursday by the Mandaue City Fire Office and government officials. | Mary Rose Sagarino

The top performing fire brigades in the city are recognized on Thursday by the Mandaue City Fire Office and government officials. | Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Only 12 of the 27 barangays in Mandaue City have fire brigades so far.

Chief Inspector Arnel Abella, director of the Mandaue City Fire Office, on Thursday, March 2, said that having a fire brigade would mean that the barangay would be able to purchase a fire truck, create a team and would have volunteers already trained by their office.

However, Abella said that some barangays had Community Fire Auxiliary Groups (CFAG) where members were already trained by their office and could be able to respond to a fire alarm in their respective barangays.

He said the group would probably use a fire extinguisher or water that could help contain a fire from becoming bigger. 

Fire brigades and CFAG would be a very big help whenever there would be a fire alarm, he said.

He also emphasized that it was very important for barangay personnel and volunteers to undergo training about firefighting. The training would also teach them how to properly use their equipment.

“Since naa sila sa area, kahibawo sila sa terrain sa ila’ng lugar. Basta naay incident fast ila’ng response then kung maabot ang atoang fire truck if macontain nila mas maayo at least maminimize siya gamay,” said Abella.

(Since they are in the area, they know the terrain of their areas. If there is an incident, they can give a fast response, and then when our fire truck will arrive and if they have already contained the fire then it is better at least the fire was minimized.)

Meanwhile, top-performing fire brigades who won during the recently concluded Regional Fire Olympics and Mandaue City Inter-Barangay Industrial and Community-Based Fire Olympics 2023 were recognized by Rep. Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon on Thursday at the Mandaue City Fire Office in Barangay Centro.

The awarding is in line with the celebration of Fire Prevention Month.

Top-performing fire brigades received a plaque of recognition and cash from Ouano-Dizon.

“Gitagaan nato sila og inspirasyun to continue kay dili lalim, kay they need to take a risk, and top performers sa atoang barangay maong gitagaan nato sila og gamay nga pahalipay ug plaque of recognition nga mosamot sila og kadasig,” said Ouano-Dizon.

(We gave them inspiration to continue because it is not easy, because they need to take a risk, and the top performers of our barangays, we gave them some cash and a plaque of recognition so that they will be more encouraged.)

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