P17-5-M FIRETRUCK.Mayor Evelio Leonardia (2nd from right); city fire marshal, Chief Inspector Publio Ploteña (3rd from right) and personnel of Bureau of Fire Protection pose near a newly-arrived Rosenbauer firetruck parked at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds on Monday afternoon (June 25, 2018). (Photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver/PNA)
BACOLOD CITY -- To boost its firefighting capability, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) here received a Rosenbauer firetruck worth PHP17.5 million from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Chief Inspector Publio Ploteña, city fire marshal, said on Monday the latest unit would increase the number of the city’s firetrucks to 12.
Ploteña said Bacolod is one of the several recipients of the Austria-made fire trucks which are issued only to cities.
The city government assisted the BFP in the transport of the new fire service vehicle to Bacolod, he added.
The newly-arrived firetruck was presented by Ploteña and his personnel to Mayor Evelio Leonardia at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds on Monday afternoon.
The BFP-Bacolod, whose central station is located on San Juan Street, has six substations. A seventh has been proposed in the area of Mansilingan village.
Of the 12 firetrucks, five units are scheduled to undergo repair, Ploteña said.
“The five firetrucks will be pulled out by the first week of July for repair. These were acquired in the 1990’s yet,” he added.
Ploteña said volunteer units, Amity Volunteer Fire Brigade and Bacolod Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade, have a total of 14 firetrucks, which when added to BFP’s 12 will bring the total number of firetrucks in the city to 26.
He said that Bacolod needs a total of 30 firetrucks based on the ratio of one firetruck for every population of 20,000.
As of 2018, the city has a population of almost 600,000.
For his part, Leonardia expressed his thanks to BFP chief Director Leonard Bañago for choosing Bacolod as one of the recipients of the Rosenbauer firetruck.
It will substantially boost the firefighting capability of Bacolod, he said.
The mayor also acknowledged the city’s volunteer fire brigades, which augment the BFP’s efforts through their own fire trucks.(PNA)
