Fire crews in Cebu City say unreliable water pressure from fire hydrants remains a serious obstacle in responding to emergencies more than a month after Typhoon Tino battered Metro Cebu.
The Cebu City Fire Station said several hydrants continue to register low to zero pressure, a situation it linked to damage sustained by facilities of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) during the typhoon.
Senior Fire Officer 3 Wendell Villanueva, spokesperson of the Cebu City Fire Station, highlighted the issue during Openline News media forum on Tuesday, December 16.
“We have very talented and skilled personnel. We have readily available equipment. We are not lacking equipment. What we trurly need in the firefighting operation recently, water. This is the problem,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva explained that an existing agreement requires MCWD to automatically divert water pressure toward the nearest fire scene during a blaze so fire trucks can quickly refill from hydrants.
He said that arrangement has not been working properly since Typhoon Tino damaged key water infrastructure.
He recalled a fire incident in Barangay Pardo where firefighters checked multiple hydrants without success.
“When there was a fire in Barangay Pardo, we went to five hydrants, yet there is no water supply we can suck out,” Villanueva said. “If there’s water, the pressure is too low.”
Similar situations, he said, have occurred in Mabolo, Mambaling, and Lahug, where residents question why water supply weakens in one area when a fire breaks out elsewhere.
While pressure diversion is meant to address this, Villanueva said current conditions have made the system ineffective.
The fire station noted that some hydrants still have sufficient pressure, but these are usually located inside communities where access is difficult.
Narrow roads slow the movement of fire trucks, delaying response. Hydrants along major highways, meanwhile, often have little to no water.
Villanueva stressed that water is the most critical element in firefighting, warning that interruptions in supply force crews to pause operations and increase the risk of greater damage and possible loss of life.
He also cautioned against relying on alternative water sources during emergencies.
“God forbid there will be fire, it is not good to get water from the sea because the fire trucks will be destroyed since salty water will make fire trucks rusty,” Villanueva said.
The concerns were raised as MCWD continues to defend its post-typhoon restoration efforts.
The water district earlier responded to criticism from Cebu City Councilor Harold Go, who said recovery had been slow and uneven, leaving thousands of households with unstable or no water supply weeks after Typhoon Tino.
MCWD said the typhoon caused severe damage to major transmission lines, including the 2.6-kilometer Jaclupan transmission line, and maintained that restoration was completed within a timeframe considered exceptional by water industry experts.
