Makati gets firefighting robots to boost emergency response

MANILA, Philippines — Makati has acquired three firefighting robots to minimize casualties among firefighters during high-risk incidents, the city government announced yesterday.

Each unit of the Rosenbauer Smart Firefighting Robot is controlled by two joysticks and can withstand extreme heat or poor visibility.

“The smart firefighting robots will help our response teams handle complex and dangerous situations more effectively through advanced features that can compensate for human limitations,” outgoing Makati Mayor Abby Binay said in a statement.

Each robot has a maximum payload capacity of 600 kilos, which can carry injured victims in hazardous areas.

It also features a turret that can discharge up to 3,500 liters of water with a vertical reach of 80 feet.

The robots are an addition to other disaster equipment procured by the city government, including mobile command vehicles, an aerial fire ladder truck, a super tanker, chemical fire trucks and rescue trucks.

For these investments, Makati snagged in 2022 the title of Southeast Asia’s first resilience hub, conferred by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, for institutionalizing and enhancing its disaster roadmap.