During the weekly Meet the Press forum at the National Press Club in Manila, BFP acting director Chief Supt. Rogelio Asignado spoke of the need to put up more fire stations and purchase more fire trucks. March, it will be noted, is Fire Prevention Month.

Asignado said the BFP only has 300 functional fire trucks nationwide, adding that the bureau needs 1,200 trucks to be able to function effectively.

He said 790 towns in the country do not have their own fire trucks. These towns are forced to rely on the services of fire stations elsewhere.

"We already resorted to clustering wherein three places share a fire station to meet the zero capital outlaying. There are only 52 municipalities that have (their own) fire trucks," Asignado said.

"The ideal number of firefighters for a fire truck is 14 working on two shifts. But most of the time, five firefighters work on one shift because of shortage in human resources," he said.

The ratio of firefighters to the number of persons needing a firefighter’s service is 1 is to 5,063 compared to 1:500 in other countries like Japan.

The BFP only has 14,995 personnel nationwide, he said, adding that ideally the bureau should have 22,586 personnel.

Asignado said the BFP has been asking the Department of Budget and Management for an increase in budget allocation. The bureau’s pleadings, however, have never been acted upon, he said.

The BFP received a P3.6-billion national budget last year. Of this amount, 84 percent went to the salaries and other expenses of the bureau, he said.

Despite the shortage of equipment and human resources, the BFP reported a 60.3 percent decline in fire incidents. From January to February this year, the bureau recorded only 1,500 fire incidents compared to the 2,535 recorded for the same period in 2005.

Asignado said for this month, the BFP has so far recorded 108 fire incidents.

The acting BFP chief likewise noted a decline in the number of fire casualties and estimated property damages this year compared to last year’s figures.

He reminded the public that negligence is still the leading cause of fires, adding that unattended lighted candles, cigarettes thrown in garbage cans, and electrical related incidents like overheating of appliances due to octopus or incorrect electrical connections are still the primary reasons for the occurrence of fires.