6 areas in city at high risk of fire for lack of hydrants

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar has identified several high risk areas in the city due to lack of fire hydrants. 

These areas include Barangays Hipodromo, Talamban, Lahug, Pardo, Ermita, and Parian. Comar said these areas are most likely to experience high risk in the event of a fire. The fire department came up with the list following a recent quarterly examination.

“Ang uban nga mga areas daghan og fire hydrants apan daghan pud ang nagbahin,” Comar said.

In the case of Parian, there are only 67 fire hydrants shared by 14 other neighboring barangays. The Ermita area, meanwhile, only has 42 fire hydrants shared by eight other barangays. Pardo also only has 28 fire hydrants shared by seven other barangays.

Barangay Lahug has 18 fire hydrants, Barangay Talamban has eight and Barangay Hipodromo has four.

Because of this insufficiency, Comar recommends that the city government install additional fire hydrants every 200 meters, an ideal scenario for a city with a size like Cebu. 

He also urged residents to take the initiative of taking charge in maintaining and safeguarding fire hydrants near their houses.

“Kun kinsa nagpuyo tungod sa mga fire hydrants, ila lang pud unta bantayan ug panalipdan,” Comar said.

By doing so, residents can help the fire department in their efforts to enhance their fire fighting capabilities by maintaining operational fire hydrants.

Cebu City only has 307 operational fire hydrants. There are 16 defective hydrants while 10 have been abandoned.

Comar stressed that with more operational fire hydrants at their disposal, the fire department can combat fires efficiently and quickly.

He also asked Cebuanos to report any problems concerning fire hydrants immediately so that the Metropolitan Water District can repair the same fast.

“Wala mi hunong sa pag-check sa mga fire hydrants dinhi sa syudad kay tingali paghuman namo’g inspection pagka ugma nakuba na,” assured Comar. 

Inspection of fire hydrants is just one fire fighting precautionary efforts the city fire department is undertaking to prepare for the coming months. “Nag-andam na pud mi sa November – Kalagkalag ug sa umaabot nga Christmas,” Comar said. – (FREEMAN)