26 towns in E. Visayas have no fire stations, trucks — BFP

By Marie Tonette Marticio
TACLOBAN CITY – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has reported that 26 out of 143 local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas have no fire stations or even fire trucks.

Sr. Supt. Renato Marcial, BFP Reg’l Director shared that there were only 192 government fire trucks in the region, not enough to serve four million people in the region.

“We need over 26 to 30 more firetrucks in order to meet our 1 is to 28,000 ratio of fire trucks to each person in the region,” he said.

He added that among the six provinces, two municipalities in Northern Leyte, five in Southern Leyte, one in Biliran, six in Northern Samar, seven in Samar, and four in Eastern Samar have no fire stations and fire trucks at all.

La Paz town in Leyte province has a fire station, but it was without a fire truck.

“Most of the towns without fire trucks and fire stations are island municipalities or far-flung areas, that is why we are intensifying our information campaign on fire prevention in these areas,” he shared.

The official also stressed the role of the community in fire prevention, and organizing bucket brigades as a way to fight fire.

Barcial suggested that old fire trucks from cities be given to these municipalities, and eventually be replaced when the new trucks arrive.

“Our budget comes from our national headquarters. We are addressing this problem and we have already requested a budget under our modernization program, but it takes around P30-P40 million to put up a station with a fire truck, including the personal protective equipment of our personnel,” he shared.