FIRE FIGHTING. A fire truck responds to a fire incident in a village outside Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental in this undated photo. The city fire station on Thursday (March 14, 2024) requested additional hydrants, especially in fire-prone areas, to cut down the response time of firefighters. (PNA file photo by Mary Judaline Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in this capital of Negros Oriental province is seeking additional fire hydrants to improve their response time during fire callouts.
Fire Chief Insp. Marlon Chomling, city fire marshal, said in an interview on Thursday that the 54 fire hydrants spread across the city are not enough to cover fire incidents should they break out simultaneously.
“We are requesting the local government unit for four additional fire hydrants to be established in Barangays Looc, Taclobo, Bagacay, and Piapi, which are fire-prone,” Chomling said.
Additional fire hydrants would mean reducing response time and being able to penetrate areas that are difficult to reach or are densely populated, he said.
Allen Cabaron, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), assured they would help source out funds for the additional hydrants.
Cabaron said each hydrant could cost PHP 200,000 or more.
Currently, the CDRRMO budget has already been allocated for other purposes but Cabaron said he would recommend to the Office of the Mayor to source funds through the Local Finance Committee.
Meanwhile, Barangay Looc chairperson Inna Luzada said they would purchase a fire truck from the money they won during a recent cultural festival competition.
Looc is a densely populated area with hundreds of informal settlers occupying the coastal area as their main source of income comes from the nearby city port. (PNA)
