The Pasig City local government inaugurated on Monday, Sept. 11, a dry standpipe system in Barangay Bagong Ilog to help inner barangay communities respond to fires.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Vice Mayor Robert "Dodot" Jaworski Jr., Rep. Roman Romulo, and the 11th City Council attended the ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony.
Barangay and homeowners association (HOA) officers, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Pasig, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) and City Engineer Office were also present.
The standpipe is located at Mejia Street in Hill Top, Barangay Bagong Ilog.
The dry standpipe system is a network of pipes that serves as a source of water used by firefighters to assist them in responding to fire incidents, as explained by the DRRMO.
There are six fire hose cabinets that are connected to the standpipe, and outlet valves that firefighters can use to attach hoses in order to access the water supply.
DRRMO Operations Division Chief Ronald Galicia said the standpipe system is important to aid firefighters, especially in areas that cannot be reached by fire trucks such as narrow streets, alleys, and lanes.
For now, the standpipe is dry since it is not yet filled with water until it is needed.
"Eventually, we can convert it into a wet standpipe, para pag na delay po ang ating mga fire trucks, mas mabilis ang reaksyon ng ating firefighters (so when the fire trucks are delayed, firefighters can still react or respond swiftly)," Galicia said.
He added that the DRRMO and BFP-Pasig will be teaching barangay and HOA members how to use the standpipe in order to train them in responding to fire incidents as a community, instead of waiting for the Fire and Rescue teams.
Mayor Sotto said this is the "first of multiple dry stand pipe installations in dense residential areas."
Other standpipes will be opened soon, especially within the inner streets of the city's 30 barangays.
"Sana hindi natin siya kailanganin gamitin, pero buti na handa tayo sa kahit ano man ang posibleng mangyari (Hopefully we won't need to use this, but it's best that we are prepared for any possible incidents)," he said.
The mayor added that around 28 new fire trucks that were requested by the barangays have also arrived.