Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Seventy six new fire trucks are set to be distributed to provinces and cities in time for the start of the fire prevention month this March, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said Monday.
“Pinapamahagi po natin ito sa iba’t ibang siyudad. Mga special fire trucks ito dahil napakalakas ng bomba nito,” Roxas said in his message during the kick-off ceremony of the fire prevention month in Quezon City.
(We are distributing these to different cities. These are special fire trucks with powerful pumps.)
He said the new fire trucks are equipped with world-class fire fighting equipment designed to respond for both highly and less urbanized areas.
He added that the Rosenbauer fire trucks are equipped with water cannons that could drive water to at least 62 meters horizontally and 24 meters vertically or equivalent to an eight-story building.
He mentioned that 22 out of the 76 fire trucks have already been distributed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
“The procurement of world-class fire-fighting is part of the modernization program implemented by the Aquino administration for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP),” he said.
During the ceremony, he called on the BFP to expand the scope of its information and education campaign on fire prevention to include training exercises on disaster preparedness and response.
He added that the DILG and the BFP would provide training to its personnel that covers their physical fitness.
“I expect our BFP to intensify their training also on civilians to keep them safe in case of fire and other disasters,” he said.
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