SM Supermalls, the country’s largest chain of malls, in partnership with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) conducted nationwide simultaneous fire drill on March 13, 2023.
Participated in by tenants, employees, agency personnel, costumers, the fire drill in more than 80 SM Supermalls is one of the highlights of the celebration of Fire Prevention Month 2023 by both BFP and the SM Group.
With the theme “Sa Pag-Iwas ng Sunog Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa” and #thinkfiresafetynow the fire drill in highly dense occupancy such as SM supermalls is one of the ways in which SM shows its commitment to the creation of risk-resilient societies and advocacy of promoting disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the country.
SM City North Edsa was the venue for the main fire drill. A scenario of a strong earthquake hitting Metro Manila causing considerable damage to buildings, occurrence of fire, search and rescue of victims was simulated. The personnel of the BFP demonstrated their capabilities by rope rappelling from the 5th floor to the ground floor in rescuing a victim trapped under collapsed structure. The aerial ladder of the Bureau was used for the high angle rescue. SM fire brigade team members demonstrated their mastery of the evacuation drill and showed their firefighting skills with the use of fire extinguishers and fire hose.
The fire drill is one good example of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of SM and the BFP which give priority to the constant training of SM’s personnel to respond to disasters including earthquakes and destructive fires. The PPP acknowledges the progress made by the two entities in preventing disaster risks and losses of lives, livelihood and health – in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 – 2030.
Meanwhile at SM City Iloilo, the fire chiefs of the different districts in Iloilo City were all present to show support as well as to observe and to provide valuable comments in the post evaluation after the drill.
SM is a member of ARISE- Philippines, the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies which is led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). As a member of ARISE and as a responsible corporate citizen, SM commits to promote a global and national culture of disaster risk reduction and resiliency.
