By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has called for a meeting with city responders on Friday, July 7, to discuss how to further strengthen the city’s response during emergencies following the fire that gutted 30 homes in Barangay 7 last week.
Benitez said the city has a total of 119 red zone areas, which cannot be easily reached by fire trucks due to their narrow pathways and obstructions.
The red zones would serve as a way to alert residents to follow specific protocols during emergencies, particularly in case of fire.
The mayor also found out that only 30 out of 135 fire hydrants are functioning, but they cannot produce enough water pressure for the fire trucks.
He added the fire hydrants were “useless.”
Several solutions were proposed during the meeting, such as all fire lanes must be free from obstructions and water tankers must be available anytime.
He also directed the Bacolod City Water District – Prime Water to submit solutions to his office on how to address the problems with fire hydrants in the city.
The water district will also initiate and explore potential collaborations regarding water availability during firefighting operations.
Barangay halls will also be provided with fire extinguishers, as emergency response is crucial within the first five minutes of a fire incident.
Last year, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bacolod City found out that most of the fire stations and auxiliary units were located in the southern part of the city.
Only Barangays Taculing and Handumanan have their own existing fire auxiliary units.
The BFP was hoping for the construction of fire stations near Barangays Bata and Mandalagan, to improve their fire-fighting capabilities.
The Lopez Jaena Fire Substation, the only fire station in the northern part of the city, was the first to respond to a fire incident at Barangay 7’s Purok Magnolia on Thursday night, July 6.
Around 66 families were affected by the blaze, with damage estimated to be around P350,000.
The blaze reached third alarm, which required them to deploy available fire trucks to the scene./DGB, WDJ