by Nhil Xavier Piñera and Owen John de Leon

As part of their continuous campaign to promote awareness on fire prevention, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) held its annual Fire Olympics on the basketball court at the General Paciano Rizal Park, Los Baños-Bayan at 7:30 am today.

There were four participants, namely MDRRM, barangays Batong Malake, San Antonio, and Timugan. These teams consist of Barangay Public City Officers (BPCO), Barangay Tanod, and fire volunteers from different Organizations. They participated in three activities showcasing fire safety actions.

MDRRM team throwing water during the bucket relay.

The activities are time trial competition relays: busted hose replacement relay, bucket relay, and fire extinguisher relay. According to Fire Officer 1 Eliseo Gayadan, the Fire Olympics is conducted to remind the participants of the necessary firefighting actions if the needs arise.

“Kung isipin natin ang crew namin sa ano tatlo lang kami, apat lang kami sa truck. Supposedly pito. Di naman sapat yun para diba makapag-suppress ng malaking apoy. Yung mga nakakatulong namin sila-sila, yung mga barangay fire volunteers, BPSO, mga tanod, fire brigade.”

(We’re just three or four inside the truck when ideally there should be seven. There are not enough people to try and suppress the fire if there is one. The Barangay fire volunteers, BPSO, Barangay Tanod, and Fire Brigades help us in our job.)

“So yung maganda dun pag may fire olympics, yung level of camaraderie ay nai-increase, competitiveness, para ma-execute ng mabilis at accurate ang pag fire suppression.”

(The Fire Olympics promotes camaraderie and competitiveness among the participants. This also enhances the execution and accuracy of fire suppression.)

The winners will represent Los Baños for the provincial Fire Olympics.

BFP still has events for the fire prevention month such as the refresher course. For emergencies or inquiries, you can reach BFP through their telephone number 536-7965 or their Facebook account “Los Baños bfp”.