BACOLOD City – Following the July 6 fire that gutted 30 houses in Barangay 7, the city mayor called for a meeting with the city’s responders to discuss how to further strengthen emergency response.
Bacolod has a total of 119 “red zones” or areas that cannot be easily reached by fire trucks due to narrow pathways and obstructions.
Mayor Alfredo Benitez also discovered that of the city’s 135 fire hydrants, only 30 are in working order, although they cannot produce enough water for the fire trucks.
He said the fire hydrants were “useless.”
Among the solutions proposed were that all fire lanes must be free of obstructions and water tankers must be available 24/7.
The city mayor also directed the Bacolod City Water District-Prime Water to submit to his office solutions to the city’s nonfunctional fire hydrants.
He added that all barangay halls will be provided with fire extinguishers, pointing out that fire response is crucial within the first five minutes.
In 2022, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bacolod City observed that most of the city’s fire stations and fire auxiliary units were in the southern part of the city.
The only closest fire station in the northern part was the Lopez Jaena sub-fire station, which was the first station to respond during last Thursday’s fire incident.
So far only barangays Taculing and Handumanan have their own fire auxiliary units.
The BFP is hoping for the construction of fire stations near barangays Bata and Mandalagan to improve their firefighting capabilities.
Late Thursday night, a fire broke out at Purok Magnolia in Barangay 7, displacing over 60 families.
Chief Inspector Stephen Jardeleza, city fire marshal, said they had difficulty entering the area due to narrow streets.
Jardeleza said no one was killed in the fire, although one person suffered minor injuries.
The fire left around P350,000 worth of damage. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
