Aris asks BFP specs for

isle firefighting equip't

NOCNOCAN ISLAND, Talibon, Aug 10 (PIA)--Learning a hard lesson from the fire that gutted 12 houses in Purok San Roque, here, Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado has instructed the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to secure for a workable specifications for a firefighting equipment that can be effective in the narrow passages of populated islands in Bohol.

Speaking before the families of fire victims here, the governor said he has instructed Provincial Fire Marshal Raul Bustaliño, to look into the possibility of a pump and hose system that can draw sea water and have enough pressure to spray seawater and kill fires.

Earlier, BFP provincial fire Marshal Bustaliño admitted that while Bohol town's have already established fire stations and have firetrucks, serving islands have been a challenge.

To this, Bustaliño said their campaign to establish fire brigades especially in barangays have continued.

For Nocnocan, an island of 2.7 hectares populated by nearly 2000 residents, fire brigades happened to be mostly barangay officials and peace keeping officers.

"We were forced to use pails of water to splash into the surrounding houses to contain the fire," barangay tanods shared as the fire began to eat the houses of light materials.

Here, with issues of overpopulation where houses literally connect with each other and water scarcity high in their concerns, sourcing out water to kill fires proved to be a major challenge.

An island almost an hour away from the mainland, Nocnocan sits in the middle of a vast sea, that majority of it's residents are able bodied fishermen, who came out to help contain the fire that when left uncontrolled, can razed the whole island to the ground.

"It was still good that the breeze was at standstill, or it would have been impossible to contain the fire," they claimed.

From the origin of fire, the nearest coastline was another 50 meters and through a maze of passages characteristic of populated island barangays.

"The fastest evacuation route was to the sea, we have to put the kids on boats, for safety," another tanod added.

Residents who helped salvage things also put these important belongings on boats, as the maze of passageways were overwhelmed with rescuers, fire fighters and escaping victims.

A hose supplied with pressurized sea water from a private pump also helped contain the spread of the fire.

Learning how effective that can be, the governor has called the BFP to check on its specifics, which can be procured from the province's disaster funds.

Still without reliable power and potable water supply in the island, Aumentado also instructed barangay officials to look for available space where the province can build a sea water desalination plant and a generator under the government's Small Power Utilities Group to be managed by the local distributor BOHECO II. (PIABohol)

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. For houses which typically lean on to each other, huddling may help them against the strong open sea winds but not when fires threaten. Owing to the tight spaces where firefighting crew and equipment may not have enough room to operate, a fire hose attached to a water pump that can produce enough pressure to suck sea water, may be a good idea, says Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado in the aftermath of Nocnocan Island fire. (PIABohol)