COA flags BFP over insufficient firefighters, gear, fire stations

The Commission on Audit has called the attention of the Bureau of Fire Protection for its supposed insufficient number of firefighters, firetrucks, fighting gear, and even fire stations across the country.

In its 2017 audit report, the COA noted that the BFP's vision of a modern fire service fully capable of ensuring a fire-safe nation has remained unattainable due to insufficient number of standard Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Data show that the BFP has not procured firetrucks and equipment for a number of years, saying that the last acquisition of firetrucks were in 2014, wherein the deliveries were "noted with deficiencies."

State auditors also said the agency has been transferring funds to Procurement Service - Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the procurement of fire trucks, PPEs such as: self-breathing apparatus (SCBA), firefighters' coats and trousers, fire boots and helmets, fire gloves, and other firefighting gear in 2012 and 2015 wherein a total of P852,679,073.39 remain undelivered.

According to COA, "The non-procurement by BFP of the fire-fighting equipment for years, its persistence in transferring funds to PS-DBM and to Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) for the purpose of procuring for them the needed equipment and relying heavily on said agency's delivery of the requested equipment, contributed to this shortage of firetrucks and firefighting gears."

Lack of firefighters, serviceable firetrucks

Also, the COA questioned the agency's shortage of firefighters as stated under the BFP Modernization Program, there should be at least 15 fire personnel in each firetruck, working two shifts a day, and a provision for seven additional staff to take care of fire prevention functions.

It also said that the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) has set the standard fireman to population ratio at 1:2,000 while the BFP currently considers 1:14 as the ideal firetruck to firefighter ratio.

"The BFP has insufficient number of firefighters. Based on the standards set by the BFP Modernization Program, the Bureau is short of 26,250 firemen and by HLURB standard, of 27,460 firemen, respectively," the COA said.

Meanwhile, the COA said the agency has been mandated to establish at least one fire station in each of the 145 cities and 1,489 municipalities, ensuring that these should all have adequate personnel and facilities.

Under the General Appropriations Act for Financial Year 2017, the BFP had a budget of P105,000,000 for construction of fire stations in some municipalities in Regions I, III, IV-A, V, CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) and NCR (National Capital Region).

It also received allotment from the DBM sourced from Special Account in the General Fund (SAGF) an amount of P791,000,000 for the same purpose in favor of 87 other municipalities.

However, a total of P892,335,117.18 from the collections mentioned above were transferred to PITC for the construction of typical fire station buildings.

"Considering that the funds for the fire stations were transferred to PITC and considering that no timeline was provided in the fund transfer, there was no assurance that the construction will be finished this year or at least in the next few years," the COA said.

Citing data from the Infrastructure Section, Logistics and Engineering Division of BFP, COA noted that as of December 31, 2017, all cities and municipalities have fire station and firetrucks, however, 349 municipalities still have no firetrucks to date using the 1:1 ratio.

The COA pointed out that the BFP should have at least 3,606 serviceable firetrucks but as of December last year, there were only 1,9858 serviceable firetrucks owned by BFP and 392 others owned by local government units.

This showed that the total serviceable firetrucks of BFP was only at 54 percent of the ideal in responding to fire incidents, the COA said.

"Aside from the shortage, it is observed from the report of the Bureau that 1,094 or 39.3 percent of the Bureau's firetrucks nationwide were acquired during the years 1950 to 1999 aging 18 to 67 years old exceeding their estimated useful life of fire to 15 years as per Government Accounting Manual Volume I," the COA added.

The firefighters of BFP have been using 1,005 out of 1,094 old firetrucks. Out of this number, 806 were serviceable, 117 were unserviceable, and the remaining 82 were under repair.

The COA stressed that utilizing old firetrucks may incur higher expenses of major repairs and maintenance and may also cause danger to both residents and firemen.

The following conditions of firetrucks have also been revealed:

• Some reported firetrucks are not found in the fire station;
• There are fire trucks that remain unserviceable for a long period of time due to lack of budget for major repairs. Some remain unserviceable until such time it becomes beyond economic repair;
• Fire trucks are not registered and has no plate number. Additionally some are not registered under the name of the Bureau and is not covered by a comprehensive insurance;
• Firetrucks in the regions doesn't have enough garage space;
• Fire trucks reported as serviceable, are still in poor condition, thus needing frequent repairs; and
• Shortage of firefighting gear.

The COA also noted BFP's lack of firefighting gear, noting that as of December 31, 2017 the agency has only this number of PPE:

• 12,718 fire helmets
• 7,133 fire coats
• 6,760 fire trousers
• 12, 357 pairs of gloves
• 11,456 pairs of boots
• 1,938 self-contained breathing apparatus

Adding to the problem of lack of firefighting gear was the decrease in the inventory of protective firefighting gear every year, since old and existing ones deteriorate due to wear and tear and excessive exposure to fire elements, the COA said.

Also, majority of BFP's firetrucks were in poor condition which may have contributed to deficiencies such as: a.) frequent repairs due to old age of firetrucks; b.) delayed completion of repair contracts; c.) lack of standard preventive maintenance program for its fleet of fire trucks.

The COA found out that a total of P2,331,026,955.78 was transferred to PITC for the procurement of firetrucks and PPEs with indefinite date of deliveries.

Recommendations

The COA suggested that the BFP take the following measures to act on their supposed insufficiency in the number of firemen, firetrucks, and gear as well as the poor condition of their acquired firetrucks and gear:

• Review the current plantilla of BFP in order to match the population, frequency of fire incidents, and number of firemen assigned to each area;
• Follow-up with PITC and PS-DBM the immediate delivery of PPEs;
• Prioritize the upgrading of facilities specifically the immediate repair of rescue equipment; and
• Establish a regular maintenance program for the Disaster Response and Rescue Equipment.

On the other hand, the BFP promised that it would fulfill its mandate of establishing at least one fire station in every LGU, adding that they would ensure that fire stations have adequate manpower and equipment.

The following remedial measures are also being undertaken by the BFP:

• Designating fire prevention officers to municipalities without fire stations;
• Adopting of running card system during fire alarm and responses, conducts clustering of municipalities without fire station to nearby fire station, create and train barangay fire brigades, and conduct fire prevention activities; and
• Coordinating with barangay local officials as regards to the importance of the role of BFP.

—Anna Felicia Bajo/LBG, GMA News