Once clear and teeming with marine life, the Manila Bay, the Pasig River, and the Laguna de Bay are now choked with garbage, and attempts to clean them up in the past have all largely been futile.

Despite their polluted states, these bodies of water that surround Metro Manila maybe the only fallback of firefighters in the face of a looming water shortage caused by the El Niño phenomenon in quelling the projected rash of fires in the metropolis as the dry season intensifies.

Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary for Public Safety Marius Corpus said firefighters ordinarily do not rely on water provided by water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water but get them from other sources.

“In the event of a severe water shortage, to be ready for any fire operations, firefighters can get water from other sources like rivers, lakes, even from the sea,” Corpus said.

Senior Superintendent Pablito Cordeta, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection in the National Capital Region, agreed.

“As a contingency measure we will turn to open water sources to supply our firefighting capabilities,” he said. “These alternative sources would include the Laguna Lake, Pasig River, and the Manila Bay.”

He said firemen can also tap other sources like swimming pools, overhead tanks and deep wells.

“Deep wells will not easily run out of water even during El Niño,” Cordeta assured.

However, Inspector Rodelio Bernabe, a veteran fireman who leads firefighters of the Agham Sub-Station of the Quezon City Fire District, said using alternative sources would require the cleaning of fire equipment afterwards.

“If the equipments are not cleaned up they would be damaged by pollutants in the water,” he said.

Corpus concurred that salt water would do considerable damage to equipment if not cleaned.

Bernabe said getting water from alternative sources is nothing new as he cited that he and his men have been tapping into swimming pools and even Manila Bay whenever they respond to fires in the Baseco area in Manila.

“There really is no choice as long as we can quickly put out the flames of an ongoing blaze,” the fire official pointed out.

Already affecting crops and endangering water supply to consumers, fire authorities expect that the El Niño would trigger more fire incidents.

“There were 17 percent more fire incidents during the El Niño in 2007 compared to the number of fire incidents in both 2008 and 2009,” Cordeta cited.

BFP records showed that there were a total of 9,042 fire incidents in 2007 compared to the 7,726 incidents reported in 2008 and the 8,271 recorded last year.

BFP Director Rolando Bandilla said three elements combine to trigger fires: oxygen, temperature, and fuel which include all flammable and combustible materials.

“If we have a high level of temperature, definitely it will contribute to ignite the fuel. And during El Niño, we will experience high temperatures,” said Bandilla.

Bandilla lamented that the BFP is running low in manpower and firefighting equipments. The bureau has only 17,000 firemen, or a ratio of one fireman for every 45,000 Filipinos.

“The ideal ratio is to have one fireman for every 2,000 persons,” he stressed.

Bandilla said every municipality should have at least one fire station and one fire truck. However, he said only half of the country’s 1,500 towns have working fire stations.

Meanwhile, Corpus remains optimistic that public awareness would reduce the number of fire incidents this year.

“That is why it has been the thrust of the BFP to educate people on fire safety and fire prevention,” the undersecretary said.

Corpus said March has been declared as fire prevention month as part of the government’s ongoing education campaign.

“March is the start of the hot season, during which many fire incidents take place,” said Corpus.

The DILG official also said slum communities are the most prone to fires because of the residents’ use of electric jumpers and candles.

He reminded the public against the use of jumpers and octopus connections as well as overusing electrical appliances like electric fans, air conditioners, electric stoves and other items that could overheat.

In the event of power outages, he urged the use of rechargeable lights. If people have to use candles, he asked to keep these away from flammable and combustible materials and also never to leave them unattended.