Bureau of Fire NCR chief to conduct surprise inspections

To make sure his men are on alert during the holidays, the head of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Metro Manila will conduct random inspections of fire stations in the coming days. BFP Metro Manila head Senior Superintendent Pablito Cordeta said those caught unprepared will face immediate administrative sanctions. "I will go around Metro Manila to conduct surprise inspections. If I see them not following my orders, I will lodge administrative charges against violators [of readiness rule]," Cordeta said in an interview aired on dzBB. He said he will be very particular about the operational readiness of firefighters under his command. Earlier, Cordeta imposed a "no drinking, no vacation leave, and no leaving the fire station" rule for his men during the holidays. He also said he wants his firefighters to act quickly on emergency calls, adding there is no need to verify whether a call is a prank or not. Firefighters must already be on the road and heading to the scene of a fire within 30 seconds after receiving a call, he said. They must also be at the scene of the fire within five minutes, he added. "No false alarm. Lahat na tawag trato natin as totoo. Five minutes ang maximum response time (Our policy is to treat all incoming calls as real fire alarms. The maximum response time to responding to a fire will be five minutes)," he said in an earlier interview. — LBG, GMANews.TV