BY: ROI ANTHONI B. LOMOTAN
DUMAGUETE CITY, Mar. 12 (PIA) – Local
fire marshals in the city and in the province underscored the importance of
complying with the Fire Code for buildings and other establishments in
observance of this year’s Fire Prevention Month this March.
In a Kapihan sa PIA recently, officials
from the City and Provincial Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) once again
reminded heads of different establishments as well as government offices to
adhere to the fire safety standards in order to maintain its operation and to
ensure that fire incidents won’t happen in their institutions.
Dumaguete City Fire Marshall Arnulfo
Sayson once again told owners of businesses in the city about the BFP annual
fire safety inspection. He warned erring establishments that if they will not
get a fire safety inspection certificate which is a pre-requisite in getting a
business permit and if they don’t fix their deficiencies or correct their
violations, the city government has the authority to close these
establishments.
Provincial Fire Marshal William Tacaldo
said the purpose of the fire code is purely prevention to any loss of
lives. He added that even government offices undergo fire safety
inspection.
“We conduct inspection of government
offices and every month we submit report on how many government buildings
we have inspected.” Tacaldo said.
But he noted that it takes time for
government institutions to fully fix the deficiencies because of budget
concerns like the delay on the issuance of funds which the bureau understands.
Tacaldo also mentioned that all
government offices in Dumaguete City were already inspected and some
offices have already fix their defiencies.
On the other hand, students staying in
boarding houses or dormitories should seek fire safety inspection certificate
from their landlords to be sure if they are sticking to fire safety standards.
Sayson did not deny that there are
still boarding houses that don’t comply with the law. Most of these are
residential houses that are open rooms for lodgers. These houses were already
given notices of violation.
Nevertheless, Sayson said that all
registered boarding houses around the city are following the Fire Code based on
their annual fire safety inspection in September to December last year.
Even though he couldn’t disclose the
total number of registered boarding houses and dormitories as of the moment, he
assured the public that these were already inspected.
Residential units are not subject to
BFP inspection unless its owners would open small businesses like sari-sari
stores in their houses. With this, owners would apply for business permit that
requires fire safety inspection certificate.
Meanwhile, aside from highlighting
compliance with fire safety standards this Fire Prevention Month, Tacaldo also
called for public cooperation in disseminating information on fire prevention.
“In fire prevention, it is 80%
education and 20% suppression. We need to share tips in order to avoid fire
especially in our households,” Tacaldo said.
Lastly, he reminded the public that good housekeeping is the best
way for fire prevention. (mbcn/RAL/PIA7-NEGOR)