CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has allocated P4 billion in next year’s budget for the purchase of new and modern fire trucks.
This, as Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas lamented that 554 towns in the country have no fire truck at all. During the recent commemoration of the 116th anniversary of the Malolos Congress, Roxas said an initial 300 fire trucks are slated to be purchased next year.
The P4-billion budget would also cover the upgrading of fire stations, regular trainings for firemen and purchase of needed equipment. The purchase of 300 fire trucks would fill in about 63 percent of the nationwide need of the Bureau of Fire Protection. (BFP) in 2015.
By 2016, the government plans to also provide more fire trucks to 1,490 towns and 144 cities. This is to reduce the response time in cases of fire from the average 12 minutes to only six minutes, Roxas said. He also bared plans to increase manpower in fire stations in accordance with international standards of 14 firemen per station.
