QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday asked the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to institute reforms at the Quezon City Fire District (QCFD), including the relief of the city’s fire marshal and another fire official.
Belmonte made the call after an investigation conducted by the city government showed lax inspection, backlog in the examination of businesses and other lapses supposedly committed by the BFP-QCFD.
In a statement, the QC government said an evaluation of fire incidents in the city this year showed on the average more damage, injury and death compared to last year.
It said there were already 153 fire incidents recorded in the city from January to August this year, compared to 219 fires recorded last year.
“With a third of the year left, there have already been eight firefighters and 63 civilians injured compared to only two firefighters and 60 civilians for the entirety of last year,” the statement added.
It also said 24 had died in fires during the first eight months of the year, compared to 30 for the entire 2022.
“There were 8,362 individuals or 2,380 families affected by the fires up to August this year, higher than the whole of last year’s record of 7,295 individuals or 2,005 families,” the statement added.
Belmonte said the BFP should look at how the BFP-QCFD “fulfilled its mandate in the light of the tragic loss of lives and properties due to recent fires in the city.
“Were the BFP-QCFD leadership remiss in their duties? They should hold their personnel accountable if proven guilty of inefficiency,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte sought the relief of QCFD fire marshal Senior Supt. Aristotle Bañaga and Chief Inspector Dominic Salvacion, the head of the QCFD Fire Prevention Branch.
“For this reason and to protect the people of Quezon City, I am calling upon the national leadership of the Bureau of Fire Protection to assign to us a new fire marshal for the QCFD and a new inspection head,” said Belmonte.
Belmonte said the “capability and effectiveness” of the QCFD in responding to fires “have lessened significantly.
“The city government recognizes that each fire has its own distinct volatile circumstances. Nonetheless, the severity of this year’s incidents necessitates a call for a change in the leadership of the agency. A change is needed for the welfare of our citizens. We look forward to a better performance from the BFP,” said Belmonte.
She also urged the BFP to be transparent in the conduct of the probe on the August 31 fire at a t-shirt printing shop in Barangay Tandang Sora that left 16 people dead.
The fire broke out at the entrance/exit portions of the shop, trapping the workers. Only two of the workers were able to escape by jumping through the window of the two-story building.
“The BFP has failed to reciprocate the city government’s efforts to exercise transparency. They resisted our calls to be apprised of the progress of their own probe, or of our requests for coordination,” said Belmonte.
