BFP taps Pangasinan communities for fire prevention, safety

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1041151
• Wednesday, July 11, 2018 6:45 pm

By Hilda Austria (PNA)

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) provincial office in Pangasinan will involve the communities in fire prevention and fire safety efforts with the launching of Safe Alert Focus and Empowered (SAFE) Pangasinan.

“We wanted to widen the coverage of BFP’s services, besides firefighting, we wanted people to become knowledgeable and be resilient in times of disasters like fire,” Insp. Richard Santillan, information officer of BFP- Pangasinan, said in an interview on Wednesday.

The “Bombero sa Barangay” will be the first step in attaining the goals of project SAFE, wherein BFP personnel in various stations in the province will go to the communities to conduct lectures on fire prevention and safety tips during fire incidents, said Santillan.

"The stations in the cities and municipalities will be scheduling their visits to the communities. We are also mandated by our provincial fire marshall Senior Supt. Joe Fernand Bangyod to be alert in doing other duties and responsibilities. BFP personnel are even required now to be on watch 24/7 as there are some stations that have no one on duty at night,” he added.

He said that they will undergo firefighting trainings to be more equipped in performing their job.

Santillan also noted that three new fire trucks were turned over to their station from the national government and three ambulances from an insurance company, this month.

He commended the BFP regional office’s recruitment activity, as it is set to hire 116 new personnel for the BFP stations in the entire Region 1 or Ilocos region.

“We are really lacking in manpower, so we hope Pangasinense applicants will pass the recruitment for us to have additional personnel,” he said.

Santillan said Project SAFE Pangasinan, which was launched on Monday, aims to have a sustainable fire-hazard-free province; engage people actively in advocating safety in all levels; for BFP personnel to become highly motivated rescuers and firefighters by conducting training in all barangays and households in the community; establish closer linkages and multi-sector safety partnership between and among government and private disaster rescuers, other safety oriented organizations and entities; and to train force multipliers on road safety, vehicular accident responders and other skills within the province.

The project also covers the environmental aspects, wherein it targets to help make the environment safe from all hazardous materials, preserve forests against fires and preserve air quality against firecrackers, pyrotechnics and other kinds of air pollutants.

BFP-Pangasinan has recorded 327 fire incidents in the province from January to June this year, which is 15.5 percent lower than last year’s 387, most of which are grassfires.