Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya—The Bureau of Fire Protection here has implemented its OPLAN ‘Ligtas Pamayanan’ which seeks to empower barangay officials and volunteers on fire prevention and suppression.
Provincial Fire Marshal Andres Galapia said the OPLAN ‘Ligtas Pamayanan’ has been piloted in selected barangays in the province after its launching in January this year.
The program was also embodied in a directive of the Department of the Interior and Local Government which requires local government units to support the implementation of the
He said the program has been conceived by the BFP due to the increasing fire incidents among residential houses.
“We have observed that the number of fire incidents among business establishments were going down while fire incidents among residential houses however, increased that is why we are bringing the campaign closer to the barangays,” Galapia said during the PIA-sponsored ‘Tungtongan ti Tribu Biskayano’ media forum.
He added that one of the important components of the OPLAN ‘Ligtas Pamayanan’ is the creation of auxillary fire brigades to serve as frontline defense of the community in times of fire incidents.
Galapia said another component of the program is the conduct of survey to serve as a baseline data for planning and crafting of the Community Fire Prtection Plan(CFPP) among vulnerable communities.
“We will be identifying vulnerable areas and we will make a plan how to address it. That is why we need the participation of everyone because fire prevention and suppression is a business of everyone,” he added.
Galapia also added that they are currently inspecting fire hydrants among local government units so that they can be used during fire suppression operations.
The BFP official also said that information, education and communication activities will also be conducted to teach households on how to prevent fire incidents among residential areas.#
