This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 5, March 5-11, 2006
In the line
of fire
They are seen in big
mobilizations on top of fire trucks, ready to hose down protesters at the
command of their superiors. Firefighters, however, are also plagued with
problems not of their making, but of the Arroyo administration’s fiscal
policies. Analyzing their plight, one realizes that firefighters have something
in common with other underpaid and overworked government employees.
By
Aubrey SC Makilan Firefighters are said to be
inefficient in putting out fires due to poor equipment and human resources,
leading observers to quip that their only efficiency is in dispersing protesters
with their water cannons. Chief Inspector Renato
Marcial, head of the Public Information Services of the Bureau of Fire
Protection (BFP), said that there are even fire stations that do not have fire
trucks. Worse, there are areas in the country that do not have fire stations. Human resources The BFP is said to be “responsible
for the prevention and suppression of all destructive fires on buildings,
houses, and other structures, forests, land transportation vehicles and
equipment, ships or vessels docked at piers or wharves or anchored in major
seaports, petroleum industry installations, plane crashes and other similar
incidents, as well as the enforcement of the Fire Code.” Marcial admitted that many
firefighters get demoralized when people blame them for slow response or when
ire hoses are grabbed from them. He said that before rushing
to the scene, there is a need to verify first the call to avoid being victimized
by crank calls. Although the response time should be about five to six minutes
from receiving the report, factors like slow traffic or narrow streets should
also be considered. Ideal The ideal number of
firefighters for a fire truck is 14 who will work in two shifts. Marcial
admitted that most of the time, only five firefighters could work in one shift
because of shortage in human resources. In cases when there are
vacant positions, Marcial said they immediately ask the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) to allow them to hire new personnel. Unfortunately. Marcial
said that the DBM usually turns down their request due to the Arroyo
administration’s financial problems. A firefighter with the
position Fire Officer 1 currently earns P6,200 ($121.14, based on an exchange
rate of P51.18 per US dollar). Based on December 2005
records, the BFP has 14,995 personnel nationwide. According to the BFP, its
number of personnel should be 22,586. As stated, a fire truck
needs 14 firefighters. Given that there are 1,203 serviceable fire trucks,
17,220 should be deployed in these trucks. There should also be 10 firefighters
in each of its 67 ambulances, another 2,583 for safety enforcement, and 1,973
for case investigation. At present, there are only 12,259 actual firefighters.
According to the BFP, there should be 10,237 more firefighters. (The breakdown
of the BFP data, however, does not add up to the stated total requirement of
22,586.) Lack of equipment As if the lack of human
resources is not enough, firefighters are also plagued with the lack of
protective gear. Around P500,000 ($9,769.44)
is necessary for each fire fighter to have a complete set of protective gear
consisting of a helmet, coat, gloves, boots and breathing apparatus. Because of financial
problems, the BFP has opted to buy only used equipment from Makati City and
Subic, Zambales which only cost from P100,000 to P200,000 ($1,953.89 to
$3,907.78). In 2005, 799 out of 1,612
municipalities in the country did not have any fire truck. These are usually
low-class municipalities where houses are far from each other, said Marcial.
Even then, there should be at least one fire truck per municipality, he said. At
present, there are only 1,230 fire trucks. Marcial added that based on
BFP standards, there should be a fire truck for every 28,000 people. But even
Marcial admitted that the presence of a fire truck should be on a per area
basis, taking into account the number of establishments present. This, he said,
is the system in developed countries like Hong Kong. With this per area basis,
Marcial said responding would be much quicker. Meanwhile, only 668 fire
stations have their own buildings or structures. Of these, 462 are owned by
local governments. Funding All these shortages could
be resolved if there is adequate funding, said Marcial. But even the BFP is not
exempted from the financial constraints most agencies are suffering from. For
this year, the BFP stands to get only P3.6 billion ($70.34 million) if the
national budget in 2005 were reenacted. For Marcial, this is not
enough for the planned modernization of the agency. For a fire truck alone,
each would cost them about P5 million to P6 million ($97,694.41 to $117,233.29)
already. The breathing apparatus which costs P140,000 ($2,735.44) each set is
not given due priority. To augment its budget, the
BFP is proposing to get 10 percent of fire code fees paid by those who apply for
a business permit. At present, the BFP gives a recommendation to operate based
on a structure’s adherence to their safety measures. The fire code fees are
directly remitted to the national treasury. Aside from this problem,
Marcial admitted that one of their problems is the palakasan (patronage)
system where the buildings and other structures they recommended not fit for
operation get approved by the local government. He said that there have been
many incidents where the mayor was charged with criminal and administrative
cases after the structures without safety permit got burned. Among these violations were
the absence of emergency lighting system in times of black out, incorrect fire
exit, and shortage in fire fighting equipment like fire extinguishers. And many
government establishments are involved in these violations, Marcial added. Fire safety practice Although there shortfalls,
Marcial said they are trying to respond to these by making the people aware
about fire. Aside from private
firefighting groups like the Chinese Fire Volunteers Brigade, they train
volunteers in barangays not only to respond in times of fire incidents in their
places but to be able to prevent fire as well. Based on BFP’s records,
negligence is one of the common causes of fire which should have been prevented.
Among these are unattended lighted candles and incorrect electrical connections.
In 2005, 7,245 cases of fire were accidental while only 256 were intentional.
And because BFP believes
that fire is everyone’s concern, it formally launched its Junior Fire Marshal
last January 2006. This project was inspired by two separate cases of children
who have saved their parents’ lives during the fire incidents. This aims to
teach school children fire safety practices and at the same time, recruit them
as fire prevention officers of their place after proper trainings have been
accomplished. A memorandum of agreement (MoA)
has been signed between the agency and the Department of Education (DepEd) to
include this in the students’ curriculum. “Kapag naging fire
safety practitioner na sila, tataas ang level of consciousness nila
tungkol sa sunog,” (Once they become fire safety practitioners, their level
of consciousness with regard to fires will increase.) he said. Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Firefighters Also Victims
of Low Budget
Bulatlat