The Bureau of Fire Protection on Thursday disclosed that they still need more firetrucks and firefighters.

At the Laging Handa Public Briefing of the Presidential Communications Office of Malacañang, BFP spokesperson Fire Supt. Annalee Atienza said the agency still needs at least 168 more firetrucks to cover the whole country and respond to any eventualities.

And since the BFP is an “equipment-based” bureau, it also needs to field additional personnel to man the additional firetrucks needed.

“So for every firetruck, kailangan po natin ng 14 personnel. So 168 x 14, lumalabas po na around 2,352 personnel pa po kung titingnan natin iyong kakulangan ng firetruck per bayan na wala pa po sa ngayon (For every firetruck, we need 14 personnel. So that comes to around 2,352 personnel that we still to man firetrucks per community),”  Atienza said.

There are still some town and municipalities that don’t have fire truck and an activated fire station, she added.

“However, sa ngayon po mayroon po tayong 34,363 BFP personnel kasama na rin po iyong mga non-uniformed personnel natin (Right now we have 34,363 personnel, including our non-uniformed personnel). So, ito pong buong puwersang ito ay patuloy po ang pagtupad ng ating mandato at ganoon na nga po iyong ating appreciation sa LGUs and other volunteers sa pagtugon po sa pangangailangan ng ating community (This force remains committed to fulfill our mandate, and we appreciate LGUs and other volunteers who respond to the needs of our community),” Atienza explained, adding that the BFP hires new firefighters annually as part of the BFP modernization program.

While Atienza reminded the public to take precautions in their power use, she reported that greater public awareness has brought down the number of fire incidents this year compared to the numbers in 2022 — from 2,520 in 1 January to 1 March last year to 1,984 this year, a decrease of 21 percent.

“At ito pong mga fire incidents na ito, ayon sa ating investigation ay caused by, nangunguna po ang electrical emission (These fire incidents are caused mainly by electrical emission). So, it has something to do with our paggamit po, responsibility in the use of mga appliances natin in maintaining the proper wiring ng ating bahay (So it has something to do with the use of appliances and maintaining the proper wiring in our homes),” the fire official said.