Around 38,000 personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were dispatched and while 3,472 emergency vehicles were placed on stand-by nationwide to ensure the immediate response to any untoward incident during Holy Week.
In observance of the Holy Week, the BFP has placed all its operating units nationwide on code red (full alert status) from April 16 to 20, following the activation of BFP OPLAN Semana Santa and Lakbay-Alalay.
The BFP national headquarters also activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for continuous 24/7 monitoring of deployed assets and emergency incidents.
In a statement, the BFP disclosed that its “First Aid Service Team (FAST)’’ was also fully mobilized to provide on-the-spot medical assistance, especially in anticipation of increased vehicular traffic and road accidents.
Under the FAST scheme, the BFP stressed that ambulances and emergency medical personnel have been strategically deployed to high-traffic areas and key locations nationwide.
In coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and local government units (LGUs), the BFP local stations had also set-up motorist assistance desks along major highways and transportation hubs to assist motorists as the need arises.
“Fire suppression teams and the BFP Search and Rescue Force (SRF) are also on full standby, ready to respond to any fire or emergency incident within their respective areas of responsibility,’’ the BFP assured.
The BFP also revealed that fire trucks will conduct regular roving patrols, particularly on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, to reinforce fire safety and prevention awareness campaigns among the public.
Monitoring teams from Regional and Provincial Offices are also conducting random ocular inspections to verify the operational readiness of field units,’’ it added.
Throughout the implementation of OPLAN Semana Santa 2025, the BFP assured that it maintain close coordinations with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (RDRRMCs), and Local DRRMCs (LDRRMCs) to ensure a safe, peaceful, and meaningful observance of the Holy Week.