BACOLOD City – Six local government units in Negros Occidental, including this capital city, have each received brand-new Isuzu fire trucks from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Aside from Bacolod, the five other recipients are cities of San Carlos, Talisay, Escalante, La Carlota, and municipality of Pulupandan.
Provincial fire marshal, Superintendent Pamela Rojane Candido and Bacolod city fire marshal, Chief Inspector Publio Ploteña presented the firefighting vehicles to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson in a ceremony held at the Provincial Capitol grounds.
The fire truck operators underwent two-day training before driving home the vehicles to Negros Occidental, Candido said.
Ploteña joined Mayor Evelio Leonardia during the turnover while the mayors of the five other recipient-LGUs also received the units together with their respective fire chiefs.
Bacolod received a water tender fire truck that has a water capacity of 2,400 gallons (10,000 liters) and which will yield an increase in water capacity in times of fire suppression which means lesser damage to properties. The rest of units have 1,000 gallons of water capacity.
“We thank President Duterte and Interior Secretary [Eduardo] Año for putting Bacolod among the top priority to receive the much-needed equipment which will help the firefighting capabilities of our BFP, and boost the development and progress of the city,” said Leonardia, national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, in an earlier statement.
With the arrival of the Isuzu unit, Bacolod, a highly-urbanized city, now has a total of 11 fire trucks. At present, seven units are fully functional while the four are undergoing rehabilitation. (With a report from PNA/PN)
