COTABATO CITY — The undermanned Bureau of Fire Protection in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BFP-ARMM) is fighting fire across the region at the ratio of one firefighter per 10,050 individuals including in three island provinces.
In addition, BFP-ARMM Director Sr. Supt. Warlito Daus bared that the office has only 36 serviceable fire trucks to combat fire incidents in the five provinces and two cities in the region.
Daus disclosed such during a ceremony for the promotion to permanent status of 40 fire officers in the region held on July 11 in this city.
He said the BFP officers were promoted "after 20 years in service" from Fire Officer 2 to Fire Officer 4 as approved by the BFP-ARMM Regional Personnel Selection Board.
Currently, the 385-strong BFP-ARMM maintains a regional office located in this city, 5 provincial fire offices and 17 fire stations across the region.
"Of the total, two are city fire stations, 14 municipal fire stations and 1 sub station, leaving 112 municipalities that do not have fire stations," he stressed.
The ARMM covers 12,288 square kilometers divided into two geographical areas — the Mindanao mainland where Marawi City and Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces are located, and the Sulu archipelago where Lamitan City and island-provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi- Tawi are situated.
Amid this, the fire official said fire incidents in the region have the least number across the country for the first semester of this year.
From January to June this year, the ARMM had 21 fire incidents with one fatality and an injured victim, posting a remarkable decline from 41 fire cases, one fatality and six injured victims recorded on the same period in 2010.
Comparative data derived from the BFP national website covering the first quarter of 2011 showed ARMM having the least number of fire incidents at 21 followed by CARAGA Region with 23 fire cases.
Daus attributed the achievement to their continuous fire prevention campaign that evolved to the regional awareness against the causes of fire. (PNA)
DCT/LAM/NYP
