Rationale
Firefighting is a very dangerous career just like any other professions
such as law enforcers, jail officers and etc. The risk of injury or death is always there.
On scene there are very dangerous chemicals being produced in the atmosphere such
as carbon dioxide, hydrochloride, and phosgene. One of the biggest risks of no-scene
death or injury is due to improper use of personal protective equipment (P.P.E.).
Safety is anything in the fire service. “Disaster can occur anywhere, and
they often occur when we least expect them”. There are ten pieces of (P.P.E.) that are
life saving devices. These ten pieces are a helmet, gloves, protective hood, protective
coat, bunker pants, safety shoes, hearing protective, eye protective, SCBA (self-
contained breathing apparatus), and PASS (Personal alert safety system) device.
In the fire service personal safety comes first, but some firefighters still do not
wear the equipment that are design to save their lives so that they can save others
lives. Now most firefighter fatality is heart attacks are due to stress, but still that’s a
lot of death due to improper use of (P.P.E.). Safety is everything to a firefighters, it is
their number one job.
The fire rescue teams are often regarded as the national heroes, especially
after fires where people die or stay homeless. On the one hand, the development
of heroism is the necessary aspect of devotedness to nation and kindness to
people, however, it would be better, if the instances, where this heroism were
needed, were as rare as possible. The aim of this paper is to analyze the fire
incident, and write an analysis reflection on the matters of the concerns associated
with the incident, and provide the thorough in-depth analysis of the personal
thoughts, feelings, considerations and opinions concerning this situation. As for the
matters of the analysis, the context and the details of the incident will be analyzed
from the perspective of possible (or real) impacts and consequences, and the
scales of these consequences.
The researchers would like to assess the firefighter’s response during
fire incidents in order to provide enhancement and safety measures.
Theory. This study is anchored on the Social Exchange Theory by
Homans, Blau and Emerson. Social exchange theory is one of the major theories
of social interaction in the social sciences. They are the key theorists who
developed the original theories of social exchange. Theoretical and empirical
developments include the extension of their work to the analysis of power and
dependence, social networks, reciprocity, fairness, social cohesion, and
solidarity.
It proposes that behaviors can be thought of as the result of cost-benefit
person believes that they are able to extract more of a reward through a
behavior than they lose by performing it, then the person will perform the
behavior. Conversely, when the person feels that the cost will outweigh the
benefit, the behavior will not be performed. If someone does not value
maintaining a relationship, or is distrustful and does not expect others to follow
through with the reward, then the balance would be shifted toward anticipating
a lower worth to any social exchange. That is, the relative costs would be
higher, and the anticipated rewards would be lower. Such a mind-set could
produce a short-term orientation favoring immediate, assured rewards, and
would elicit the socially aversive behaviors characteristic of the Dark Triad.
Legal Basis. The study is based on Republic 11589, An act strengthening and modernizing the bureau of fire
protection and appropriating funds therefor. This Act shall be known as the "Bureau of Fire Protection
Modernization Act."
It is the policy of the State to ensure public safety through the prevention and suppression of all kinds of
destructive fires, with the active support of the community.
Towards this end, the State shall formulate and implement plans and programs to enhance and modernize the
Bureau of Fire Protection, expand its mandate and capability, and ensure its responsiveness to the changing needs of
the community.
Section 3. Strengthening of the Bureau of Fire Protection. – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), created under
Republic Act No. 6975, otherwise known as the “Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990”, as
amended, shall exercise the following powers and functions:
(a) Prevent and suppress all destructive fires on buildings, houses and other structures, including those that occur in
economic zones, agro-industrial economic zones, free ports, and special economic zones, Information Technology (IT)
parks and centers, tourism economic zones, and other similar entities; forests; land transportation vehicles and
equipment; ships or vessels docked at piers or wharves or anchored in major seaports, petroleum industry installations;
and airports, in the event of plane crashes and other similar incidents: Provided, That the BFP shall collaborate with
various local government units (LGUs) on fire protection services, such as fire prevention and preparedness, response
planning, and information sharing, as well as on handling fire management and operational issues;
(b) Respond to natural or man-made disasters and other emergencies,
including the conduct of rescue operations, medical emergencies, and containment
of hazardous materials (HAZMAT), chemical biological, radiological, nuclear and
explosive (CBRNE) materials: Provided, That the BFP shall actively coordinate and
cooperate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and
the LGUs on disaster response, risk reduction and management, in line with
Republic Act No, 7160, as amended, otherwise known as the “Local Government
Code of 1991,” and Republic Act No. 10121, otherwise known as the “Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010”;
(c) Issue implementing rules and regulations, and prescribe standards,
schedule of fees, fire service charges and administrative penalties, in connection
with the enforcement of Republic Act No. 9514, otherwise known as the “Fire Code
of the Philippines of 2008” and other related laws;
(d) Require building owners to submit plans and specifications of their respective buildings
and other pertinent documents as listed in the BFP’s Citizen Charter pursuant to Republic Act No.
11032, otherwise known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery
Act of 2018 and evaluate the same to ensure compliance with Republic Act No. 9514 and other
applicable codes and standards. For this purpose, a fire safety evaluation clearance shall be issued as
a prerequisite for the issuance of the building permit in accordance with Republic Act No, 11032;
(e) Investigate all causes of fires, and if necessary, file the proper complaints with the city or
provincial prosecutor who has jurisdiction over the case;
(f) Maintain regional offices which shall formulate and implement policies, plans and
programs of the BFP, with prior consultation from the LGUs and monitor, evaluate and coordinate the
operations and activities of the fire service units at the regional levels in coordination with the Central
Office;
(g) Establish and maintain fire laboratories and research and testing facilities with complete
equipment, one (1) each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao areas;
(h) Conduct training of its personnel and officers including fire volunteers, fire safety
practitioners and fire volunteer organizations, pertaining to fire prevention and suppression, fire
inspection and clearance, investigation, disaster preparedness, rescue, emergency medical response,
HAZMAT, CBRNE, and other operations: Provided, That the conduct of such training must be in
coordination with the LGUs;
(i) Conduct monthly fire prevention campaigns and information drives in partnership
with the LGUs, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the
Department of Transportation, and economic zones;
(j) Develop, promote, and implement a comprehensive fire safety and protection
program that aims to strengthen the capacity of the national government and LGUs, to
build the fire resilience of communities, and institutionalize measures for reducing disaster
risk, and enhancing disaster and emergency preparedness and response capabilities. The
BFP shall also empower existing community-based fire volunteer brigades and encourage
the creation of the same in all LGUs;
(k) Enter into contracts, agreements or similar undertaking for the acquisition,
ownership, possession, use, administration, lease, disposition, or acceptance of real or
personal property in its name;
(l) Request assistance from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP), or any government agency or instrumentality, including government-
owned and/or controlled corporations and LGUs, in the exercise of its powers and
functions, including the use of these agencies’ personnel and facilities upon approval of the
head of the agency concerned; and
(m) Perform such other functions as the President or the Secretary of the DILG may
assign.
Related Literature
The following readings were associated in the study in order to give important information that can help gain profound insights into the study.
There has been significant interest in the relationship between occupational exposures of firefighters and the increased risk of cancers they
face. Understanding the fireground exposures to carcinogens is an important mechanistic link. Given the significant growth in research on this topic,
the Fire Protection Research Foundation undertook the task of developing a systematic review of existing literature to outline the current state of the
science, summarize the findings, and identify gaps in the literature. A total of 75 articles were included in the analysis with most (68%) being
conducted in the last decade. Biomonitoring studies have been conducted that identified the presence of known human on the fireground. For
biomonitoring studies, significant gaps were identified for fire instructors, fire investigators, aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) firefighters,
industrial firefighters, and recruits. It was also noted that future research should focus on examining the impact of the changing fire environment as
the products of combustion in fires have evolved over the years. The gap analysis identified several areas of needed research within environmental
monitoring including studies of carcinogens through wildland fires, exposures through electrical/transformer fires, ARFF exposures, and training fires.
Additional research by type of data collection such as through gear samples and passive sampling devices also were identified. Finally, additional
research on major events is needed through real-time environmental monitoring. Clearly, the fireground – by its very nature – is a high-risk
environment with a number of carcinogenic exposures for any responder on the scene. Understanding these risks is an important foundation for
understanding health and environmental impacts and for identifying and promoting mitigation and prevention effort.
A comebacking official of the Cordillera Office of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP-CAR) assured the
public firefighters in the different fire stations are trained to respond to calls for emergency assistance within a
7-minute duration provided that the area where the fire incident or other emergency cases that needs response
is accessible by roads.
BFP-CAR Regional Director Senior Superintendent Sofia Mendoza said the ideal response time of
firefighters is actually 5 minutes but in peculiar situations like in the case of Baguio city and the Cordillera
provinces, the acceptable response time is 7 minutes for 7 kilometers of road.
She explained that the 5-minute ideal response time was reached by higher authorities to ensure the
damages of fire to life and limb will be minimized considering that within a 5-minute period, the extent of
damage to life and limb of fire incidents will be enormous.
“We continue to hone the firefighting and emergency response knowledge and skills of our fighters
through various training in partnership with local and international firefighting organizations for them to improve
their capability to respond to simple and complicated incidents that transpire in their areas of jurisdiction,”
Mendoza stressed.
The BFP-CAR official expressed the bureau’s gratitude to the barangay and city governments for
providing for the lot and the structure for the Quirino Hill fire substation because such gesture will definitely
help in improving the presence of firefighters in strategic areas where the response time will be maximized to
spare life and limb from being exposed to eminent danger due to fire and other emergency incidents.
According to her, the support of local governments in providing fire stations in their areas of jurisdiction
is a significant contribution in ensuring that firefighters will be fully equipped with the basic gadgets when
responding to fire incidents and other forms of emergencies brought to their attention for expected timely
emergency responses.
BFP is following a strategic plan to mitigate fire incidents from happening. Fire prevention is a
proactive method to educate the public regarding the potential harm of fire and how to prevent them as
well as reduce its damage. The bureau conducted annual efforts in response to the increasing number
of fire incidences. In December 2019, the PSA released a 2017 report on Integrated Survey on Labor
and Employment highlighting Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Practices. In this 2017 report,
98.1% of the 32,288 establishments with 20 or more employees surveyed have implemented different
preventive and control measures/activities to safeguard workers from avoidable danger and injury in the
workplace. The most prevalent measure used by the establishments was the posting of safety signages
and warnings, which accounted for 86.4% of the total. Other common measures/activities were smoke-
free workplaces, earthquake, fire, and chemical spills; emergency planning and response activities,
designation of safety/health officials and/or first-aiders and regular inspection and repair of equipment.
Fire prevention and control program tops the OSH policies/programs usually implemented by
establishments with 82.6% of the total establishments surveyed. This shows the BFP’s commitment to
empowering establishments during fire occurrences. The bureau has conducted 45.1% of the recorded
OSH-related training/seminars. Fire safety training was the most common among the training/seminars
which accounted for 51.6% of the establishments.
Related Studies
The following relevant studies are being presented as basis for the conduct of this study.
In the research of Roel Ceballos on “Analysis and Forecasting of Fire Incidence in Davao
City”. This study aims to understand the characteristics or behavior of the cases of Fire in Davao City
based on its available time-series data. Our analysis shows that the historical data of Fire occurrences do
not show trends and seasonality, which indicates that the number of Fire occurrences in the city has not
continued to increase or decrease over time. A consistent decrease of an adverse event like Fire incidence
is an idealistic aim because it would mean that the cases would eventually reach zero over time. On the
other hand, a consistent increase in Fire incidence poses a severe problem and would require an
immediate action and response to mitigate the grave loss of life and property. Although the Fire incidence
in Davao City may not go up consistently over time, it may also not die down naturally. Thus, it is
imperative to develop plans, programs, and policies to mitigate the incidence of Fire or to prevent it from
occurring. To aid in the process of decision making or development of programs, a forecasting model is
developed in this study to measure the expected cases of Fire incidence. The forecasting model takes into
account the behavior of the observed Fire incidence, including the fact that there are no seasonal patterns
in the data. The absence of a seasonal pattern implies no specific month or period where the surge of
cases is observed.
In the research of Love S. Lagata entitled, “Challenges Encountered
and Insights of the Bureau of Fire Protection Personnel Towards
Responding Fire Incident”. The researchers concluded that the scarcity in
responding fire incident, arduous work, frustration in the work, collaboration and
cooperation in fire safety and prevention, and serving the people can be
mitigated by adding more resources, improve efficiency of the existing sources,
and restrict using of existing resources which are not effective. The fire fighters
were encourage to exercise while on duty. Those who engaged in regular
physical training were less likely to have a serious injury on the fire ground. The
bureau's modernization law assists in resolving these challenges by upgrading
their equipment and providing training to their employees.
The plans may also be their first step in establishing a relationship in the
community in order to provide lectures and seminars for their own safety in the
event of a fire. The best weapon in resolving those challenges in terms of fire
incident is to always be patient with those who are hostile during fire and to stay
away from those who act violently during fire incident and to be Mediterranean
Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences approachable at all times in the
community for our own safety. Also, those who are trained regularly perform job-
specific tasks more efficiently than untrained firefighters. Thus, it is
recommended to implement exercise program for firefighters .
Lastly, A recent study by M. D. Asiddao and V.P. Bongolan, entitled “Agent-Based
Fire Spreading Model in a Dense Urban Community”. Concluded that, Of all the
variables adjusted to mitigate the spread of fire, the most effective form of prevention is
by developing the area by adding roads for accessibility and widening walkways to prevent
ignition by close-proximity of houses. Wider walkways have been seen to be effective soft
barriers in reducing the spread of fire, while bigger and more roads aid in the ability of fire
trucks to gain deeper access into the residential areas without having to make firefighters
walk very far from the site. Community density was also a great factor in preventing the
spread of fires. By having reduced combustible possessions among the residents,
firefighters have less fires on the outermost perimeter to extinguish, therefore making the
containment process faster. Lowering the community density by relocating residents in
these areas greatly contributes to lowering the risks of fire incidents from getting out of
hand. The decongestion of Metro Manila’s roads had also made an impact in improving the
fire control time. Addressing the issue of decongestion is also a universal solution as it not
only affects Barangay Addition Hills, but also all fire incidents in the megacity, as
firefighters will have quicker and more efficient access to the fire. Careful consideration of
the results of these experiments will help in preventing major fire incidents in Barangay
Addition Hills. A reallocation of the Bureau of Fire Protection’s resources into improving
their facilities, vehicles, and manpower, is very well recommended.
• THE PROBLEM
• Statement of the Problem. The main objective of this study is to make an analysis on the factors affecting
response during fire incidents in Tagbilaran City Fire Station in Tagbilaran City, Bohol for the year 2023 – 2024 with
an end view of proposing a safety measures.
• Specifically, it aimed to discover the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:
A. Fire Officers
a. Age;
b. Gender;
c. Civil Status;
d. Years in service; and
e. Rank?
B. Community Residents
a. Age;
b. Gender;
c. Civil Status; and
d. Years residing in Tagbilaran?
2. What are the perception of the respondents on the factors affecting the response of the fire
fighters in during fire incidents?
3. Is there a significant degree of difference in the perception of the respondents on the factors
affecting the response of the firefighters during fire incidents?
4. What proposed safety and enhancement measures could be offered to help the fire fighter to
easily burn out the fire and respond fire incidents?
Null Hypothesis
There is no significant degree of difference on the responses of the respondents on the
firefighters response during fire incidents in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
Statistical Treatment
The data gathered through the use of the questionnaire were subjected to statistical treatment,
computation and analysis. The purpose was to determine the difference of the responses of the two
different group of respondents. It was subjected to a t- test using the formula.
Formula:
t= X 1+ X 2
S1 +S2
N1+ N2
where:
t= t –test
X1= mean of the first group
X2= mean of the second group
S1= variance of the first group
S2= variance of the second group
N1= number of cases of the first group
N2=number of the cases of the second group
RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE
PART I. PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
Part II. Perception of the Respondents of Factors affecting the Response
of the firefighters during Fire Items
Incidents. 4 3 2 1
(VMO) (O) (LO) (NO)
1.Using of incorrect size of clothing and boots before responding fire incident.
2.Having Small physical space in preparing before fire incident occur.
3.Having obstacles on the way like narrow roads, traffics and uneven paths.
4.Having Miscellaneous people on the route between the firefighter’s room and
the parking area.
5.Inadequate space of parking to the incident area.
6.Inadequate communication with the fire control room.
7. Improper location for the fire truck at the scene (too close or far to the incident
scene and hydrant).
8. A technical defect in firefighting pumper and equipment.
9. Low level of firefighters' skill in operating the engine.
10. Existence of barriers (like columns) in the parking space.
