Firemen Shortage
Ideally, there should be at least one fireman for every 2000 population based on Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) planning standards. But according to a study made by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), there was a need to increase the number of firemen by about four times to extinguish an average of 26 fires per day from 2001-2005. There was even a decrease of firemen from 9,541 in 2001 to just 9,246 in 2005 despite the increased incidence of fires.
Recently, there are two House Bills and two Senate Bills which have to be certified by the President as priority bills aiming to modernize fire protection in the country. The Bureau has a total manpower of 16,227 and still requires 12,993 more for its mission-critical function of fire suppression.
Also, only 827 out of 1,494 municipalities nationwide have protection capability. Quezon City, for example, has one fireman for every 5,206 population and one firetruck for every 67,091 population. Such disparity in resources shall be addressed once and for all if the Fire Code of the Philippines is to be amended. Or better yet, let us just be fire safe ourselves by learning how to use a fire extinguisher and installing smoke detectors in our own homes.