GMA Network employees participate in 'well-organized' fire drill

With the sound of the alarm, hundreds of GMA Network employees on Friday rushed out of their building in record time, during what government fire officials considered one of the “most organized" fire drills they have seen.

The drill — carried out regularly by the media company in preparation for the Fire Prevention Month in March — is aimed at raising awareness among its workers about fire safety measures during emergencies. Some 969 employees inside the GMA Network Center along Timog Avenue were able to vacate the building in 9 minutes, 2 seconds, Senior Inspector Cesar Patrocino Jr., chief of the fire safety education department of the Quezon City Fire Bureau said. This was the fastest recorded time that officials were able to evacuate the building in the last four years, Patrocino added. In last year's fire drill, GMA employees vacated the area in more than 10 minutes. Two years before that, in 2007, it took them almost 14 minutes. "Well-organized ang drill ngayon. Professional at nakakaintindi kasi lahat ng employees. Aware na sila at hindi na iyong wala silang pakialam," he said. (The fire drill held this year was well-organized. This is because employees are professional and understand what the drill is all about.) Clad in bright orange shirts, GMA security personnel scoured each of the building's 17 floors and guided employees out, ensuring no one has been left inside. Sr. Supt. Pablito Cordeta, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection-National Capital Region, stressed the importance of holding fire drills to ensure buildings are equipped with fire preventing equipments and their occupants are well-informed on what to do during a fire. "Dito matuto ang nakatira o nagtatrabaho sa offices kung saan ang fire exits at ano ang kagamitan nila sa sunog (During fire drills, people learn where to find the fire exits and what fire fighting devices they have)," Cordeta said in a radio dzBB interview. Companies need a fire drill certification from the BFP before being able to renew their business permits, according to Cordeta. Asked to give advice, Patrocinio said the public should take fire drills seriously, and added that during emergencies, people should "go out in a hurried manner but not scrambling." Fires are usually accidental, and often involve electrical connections, based on data from the BFP's Data and Statistics Department. Edward Pasco of the BFP Public Information told GMANews.TV that there has been a total of 669 fire incidents in Metro Manila from January 1 to February 26. Three hundred fifty of these incidents happened last month. Of the 669 incidents, 208 were structural fires or those that happened inside buildings and homes. Compared to the same period last year, the figure remained relatively the same, with 672 incidents in January and February 2009. More than half of fires in the Philippines last year — or 6,128 of the total 8,271 cases — were classified as accidental, with 1710 cases still under investigation, said a report of consolidated causes of fire incidents from the BFP’s Investigation and Intelligence Division. Last year, 2,520 fires nationwide were caused by electrical connections, out of the total 7,726 fires. The same report showed 574 cases due to unattended cooking and 561 due to unattended cigarette butts. - GMANews.TV