Injured firefighter eager to work again

He may have broken his back on the job, but this firefighter wants to get back into the action.

Although he has yet to fully recover from an on-the-job accident that left him paralyzed and in a body cast for over 10 months, Parañaque City Fire Inspector Enrique Francisco can’t wait to put on his fireman’s uniform again.

"Gusto ko na pong bumalik sa trabaho at makatulong sa aking mga kasamahan sa pamatay sunog (I want to return to work and help my colleagues to kill blazes)," Francisco told The STAR in an interview.

Francisco suffered spinal cord damage when part of a burning roof fell on him as he was working to save a housemaid trapped inside a burning residence in Parañaque City on May 27, 2005. Since then, Francisco has been "housebound" in a body cast.

The accident did not and will not stop Francisco from working to get back into fighting form so he can take up his fireman’s ax: "Ito yung sinumpaan kong tungkulin (This is my sworn duty)."

Francisco firmly believes that his contribution to firefighting is needed now more than ever as the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) observes Fire Prevention Month.

Francisco’s devotion to his work as a fireman is shared by every member of the BFP, he said, despite shortages — if not a total lack — of firefighting equipment and protective gear.

Based on BFP records, there are a total of 15,093 BFP members nationwide with 11,689 assigned to active firefighting units.

Most of the country’s firefighters must share coats, boots, helmets, gloves and trousers with suspenders that are specially-treated with fire retardants, and make up the basic gear every firefighter needs to survive the rigors of the job of containing and extinguishing fires.

This shortage of firefighting equipment has been a sore spot for the BFP, which has been criticized for chronic shortages since the late 1980s — shortages that worsen each year, reduce the efficiency of the BFP and result in many otherwise preventable, incapacitating injuries and needless deaths among the ranks of the BFP’s firefighters.

Unprotected defenders

Records obtained by The STAR as of calendar year 2006 showed that, despite the BFP’s roster of 11,689 firemen on active duty nationwide, there are only 3,742 fire coats — leaving 7,947 firemen unequipped and forced to share protective gear with those who do have it.

In National Capital Region (NCR) alone, there are 2,229 firemen but only 360 have coats — 1,869 must borrow gear from their off-duty colleagues.

The BFP has 3,214 pairs of fire boots and still need 8,475 more pairs of the specially-treated footwear to ensure that each BFP fireman is protected from burns as they walk through burning structures to rescue trapped fire victims.

The BFP has only 4,731 fire helmets for its firemen and still needs 6,958 helmets. The shortage of fire gloves is even worse: the BFP has only 1,324 pairs of the asbestos gloves and still needs another 10,365 pairs.

Firefighters’ pants with suspenders are an even bigger headache for the BFP; the bureau does not have any such clothing — which helps firemen survive the blazes they must fight.

"To be able to give each fireman complete gear — from (fireproof) trousers with suspenders to gloves, helmets, boots and coats the BFP needs over P300 million in funds," the BFP report stated.

Getting to fires is another big problem. The BFP also needs 2,922 fire trucks. There are only 105 such vehicles in the national BFP inventory, resulting in a shortage of 2,817 trucks. This shortage could be eliminated if the BFP were to be given P600 million more to purchase the vehicles.

Based on records from March 1 to 13, there were 97 fires, fewer than the 112 fires reported during the same period last year. The BFP reported that only one person died and estimated property damage in these fires was P16.8 million — also less than last year’s figures of 11 deaths and an estimated P51 million worth of property lost to fire.

Saving lives

Francisco said the physical damage dealt to him by his accident could have been minimized if he and his colleagues had been adequately equipped to contain the dawn fire that razed a house on Block 3, Lot 3, Equity Homes subdivision in Barangay San Antonio, Parañaque City.

Equipped or not, though, Francisco’s job is to save lives, even at the cost of his own: "The whole house was already ablaze when we were told that someone was trapped inside. I rushed into the house and I saw the girl unconscious, possibly dead."

Francisco said he called Chief Fire Inspector Gregorio Elbambo and FO3 Artemio Villalino for help: "We were almost out of the house when the burning roof collapsed on us."

The woman Francisco’s group rescued died of smoke inhalation, but due to their efforts, her body was not charred.

After the accident, Francisco had to be taken to the National Orthopedic Hospital (NOH) for treatment of his broken back and damaged spinal cord. He was confined at the hospital for a month and, before he was discharged from the NOH, he was put in a body cast to ensure his recovery and to prevent further spinal damage.

"My back still hurts," Francisco said, "especially when it is cold." Despite the constant pain and the paralysis that ail him, he has no regrets about rushing into a burning building to try and save a life.

"Ginawa ko iyon, at gagawin ko uli, para lang makapagligtas ng buhay (I did that, and I will do it again, just to save lives)," Francisco said.

He and two firefighters were rewarded by then Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, who gave them spot promotions to the next rank.

"We are thankful for the decision of Secretary Reyes to promote us and it makes our monthly salary higher," Francisco said.

He is hopeful that Reyes’ successor, newly appointed Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno would look after the welfare of all firefighters nationwide.