Watch the kitchen, most common origin of fire
FIRE PREVENTION
AS the nation observes Fire Prevention Month, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Dagupan City warned the public to be especially careful in the kitchen as leaks in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks and unattended cooking are the most prevalent causes of fire.
Chief Inspector Ernesto Gandia, city fire marshall, said open flame from an LPG or ‘gasera’ is a very common cause of fire.
He advised households to avoid being distracted with other tasks when cooking.
Another common cause of fire, he said, is electrical short circuit or circuit overload.
“Yung term na faulty electrical wiring, misnomer yun. Kasi pag faulty, sa umpisa pa lang, sira na or puputok na. The correct term is short circuit or circuit overloading lalo na kapag may octopus connections na,” Gandia said during the Pantongtongan Tayo radio program of the Philippine Information Agency last Tuesday.
MODERNIZATION
At the same time, Gandia assured that BFP is prepared to respond to any emergency situation despite constraints in both their manpower and technical resources.
Gandia, a former logistics officer at the BFP headquarters, said he expects a modernization of the BSP in two years time, during which every fire station in the country would have complete gear for its personnel and modern fire-fighting equipments including trucks equipped with breathing apparatus.
“The BFP ratio is one fireman for every 2,000 people and one fire truck for every 28,000 people…sa ngayon kulang tayo sa trucks and personnel,” Gandia said.
Senior Fire Officer Jesus Mendoza of the provincial fire department based in Urdaneta City agreed, saying the province needs at least 95 fire trucks and more than 900 personnel to fill the ratio.
“At present, we only have 40 trucks and 312 personnel. Once a fire breaks, one dispatched fire truck must have seven personnel. But due to lack of manpower, only two firemen go with the truck,” Mendoza said. (PIA Pangasinan)
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