Taguig steps up info drive on fire awareness

MANILA, Philippines - The Taguig City government in coordination with the city fire department on Monday started an intensified information and education against fire hazards.

Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano said the first thing to do is to arm citizens with the knowledge of what are fire hazards, as well as with information on knowing what to do and what not to when a blaze hits a community.

“Awareness and discipline are the first steps toward preparedness, which will then make way for prevention. With that, we encourage everyone not to disregard the efforts of the city and the local BFP towards this purpose,” she said.

Cayetano said the information drive is launched in observance of the Fire Prevention Month in March.

As part of the drive, the Taguig City Rescue will also include fire drills to ensure that the public is aware of what to do in case of fire.

Meawnhile, the Taguig City Fire Department will also conduct the annual “Barangay Ugnayan,” a seminar to strengthen and evaluate the capabilities of every barangay, especially barangay volunteers, in responding to fire and other related emergencies. The seminar also intends to further involve the community through the creation of Barangay Fire Brigades.

In addition, the BFP is set to conduct the 3rd Mayor Lani Cayetano Inter-barangay Fire Olympics which will include Rescue and Transfer Relay (tests skills in transferring a victim’s body), Fire Extinguishment (tests skills in using a fire extinguisher), Bucket Relay (dubbed as the oldest form of firefighting; it is race to fill up a tank with 50 gallons of water) and Tug-of-war (tests strength and teamwork).

This intensified fire prevention campaign is a year-round commitment of the city government and the BFP to ensure fire safety of Taguigeños. - Mike Frialde