by RG Alama

Davao City (8 May) -- The Davao City Fire Office of the Bureau of Fire Protection is seeking national government funding to rehabilitate its decrepit fire stations.

According to Fire Inspector Sixto Jimenez, chief of operations of the DCFO said the stations are currently in need of repairs or renovation particularly the run-down Bangoy Fire Station, which he said is the oldest in Davao City.

Jimenez said the repair of these fire stations depends on the availability of the national budget. However he says they are making moves to push forward their request. The Fire Office is also forging linkages with the Local Government Units for support.

The amount of money needed to renovate or repair a facility depends on the fire station's capacity. Some fire stations house different number of personnel and fire trucks. Jimenez said. "Although we have modern equipment, the maintenance of this equipment depends on the budget," Jimenez said.

Aside from fire stations, equipment maintenance, and issuance of fire gears like fire jackets, boots and life-saving gear are coming from the national office, which is the BFP. And is not often that the office gets to procure modern fire-fighting equipment, much less renovate its facilities.

Davao City Fire Office and the rest of the Bureau of Fire Protection are in the midst of the hottest summers in the country, a season historically where a large number of fire incidents occur.

For the first quarter of this year alone the DCFO has recorded 33 residential fires, seven mercantile and industrial establishment fires, 32 grassfires, six vehicle fires and one fire in a place of assembly, there were two fatalities, which were the victims of an LPG blast in Agdao.