ILOILO City – A Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) fire truck veered off the road in Barangay Salvacion, Sibalom, Antique. Two BFP personnel were confirmed dead and three others were injured.
The accident happened around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
Members of the Sibalom fire station were aboard the ill-fated truck heading back home after joining a Brigada Eskwela cleanup of a nearby public school.
According to Sibalom police chief Major Rex Farren, the fire truck’s brakes malfunctioned.
“The area is a blind curve hilly portion and maybe the driver could not control because the fire truck was full of water,” Farren theorized.
Before veering off 20 meters off the road and into a field, the truck crashed against an electric post and an acacia tree, Farren said.
The front portion of the fire truck was totally damaged, he added.
The casualties were Fire Officer 2 Joy Ardaña, 40, of District 3, Sibalom and Fire Officer 1 Darryl John Peralta, 28, of Alimodian, Iloilo. They both died on the spot.
Fire Officers Judy Baldone, 29, of San Jose, Antique; Charmie Leigh Forro, 25, of Dumalag, Capiz; and Rechelle Lustica, 27, of Kabangkalan, Negros Occidental sustained injuries on the body.
They were initially taken to a hospital in San Jose but had to be transferred to Iloilo City for better medical treatment.
On its Facebook page, the BFP Region 6 expressed grief over the loss of its two personnel.
“Let us pause for a moment to honor and offer our prayers to our colleagues who lost their lives and are injured during this tragic incident,” the BFP-6 said./PN
