Volunteer firefighters held a fire drill competition to improve their skills as part of the commemoration of the fire prevention month of March, ABS-CBN reported Sunday.

Those who joined the competition Saturday in Manila included 40 volunteer fire brigades from various barangays and subdivisions in Metro Manila.

Aside from attempting to outdo the competitiors, the volunteers also took turns in "rescuing" victims. They also joined drills in inspecting fire extinguishers.

Wilfredo Muñoz of the Fire Safety Organization said that aside from determining the capabilities of volunteer firefighters, it also provided a way to determine the efficiency of the fire extinguishers they used.

“This should serve as a warning to the volunteer firefighting organizations that they determine the capacity of their fire extinguishers first,” Muñoz said.

According to statistics from the FSO, volunteer firefighters are growing in size. This has led to a decrease in the incidence of fires in Metro Manila.

The Bureau of Fire Protection reported that in March 2006, there were 411 fires recorded. The the figure has lessened to 132 fires for the first three months of the 2007.