Taipei’s firefighter numbers have been declining for the past three years and inadequate firefighting manpower may be endangering public safety, Taipei City Councilor Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) said.
Ho, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said Taipei had 1,302 firefighters in 2012 and that number dropped to 1,253 by June this year — a reduction of 3.7 percent.
“Furthermore, the equipment for city’s firefighter department is getting old and its expenditure accounts for only 1.79 percent of next year’s city fiscal budget,” Ho said. “The decrease through the past three years was mostly due to retirement and shifting jobs to other agencies.”
The ratio of the number of city residents serviced by one firefighter has risen from 2,053 in 2012 to 2,150 this year, he said.
“We see firefighters have a heavier workload — people are worried about public safety,” he said.
In response, Taipei City Fire Department’s personnel office head Wang Pao-ling (王寶齡) said new firefighting recruits come mostly from Taiwan Police College, Central Police University and graduates of a training program who have passed a firefighter entrance examination.
“We expect to have 359 new recruits through the next three years to fill the firefighter vacancies,” Wang said.
He also said that a request for incentive pay due to firefighters’ dangerous work conditions is now under consideration by Executive Yuan’s Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, and that Taipei City Fire Department would allocate its expenditure in accordance with the city’s budget planning.
Taipei city councilor candidate Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) of the DPP said the city’s 12 administrative districts do not have enough “firefighter motorcycles,” which are outfitted with hoses, water mist sprayers, fire extinguishers and water canisters, along with pick axes and other tools to break down doors and windows.
“Only two or three of these firefighter motorcycles are allocated per district. It is insufficient for Taipei’s high population density, with so many narrow lanes and alleys,” he said.
In response, Tsai Chia-lung (蔡家隆), chief of the Fire and Rescue Planning Section under the city government’s fire department, said that the main mission of the firefighter motorcycle is to reach the fire scene quickly, for the initial work of battling the blaze and to undertake guidance, coordination and preliminary assessment work.
“The main job of extinguishing the blaze is still conducted by fire engine units, so there is no need for too many firefighter motorcycles in our work,” he said.
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